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Fassbinder View Drop Down
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Points: 3497 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Classical Poetry in Prog
    Posted: June 28 2006 at 10:28

I would like to know about the examples of classical poetry involved in Prog. I mean here verses of the poets considered world classics; these verses weren't supposed to be sung when they were written, or, at least, they weren't written strictly in order to be sung.

Like (an example):
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Sleeper" and "The Haunted Palace" both are sung in Peter Hammill's "The Fall of the House of Usher" (I know that "The Sleeper" is not sung in entirety and that there are minor changes of a couple of words in "The Haunted Palace", nevertheless, these are clear examples of classical poetry using in Prog).
 
So, can you bring some additional examples? You are welcome...
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Points: 46301 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 10:29
Tangerine Dream's Tyger (title track and "London") has lyrics from William Blake's poems.
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Points: 24429 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 10:36
Great thread for a lover of literature like me! Thumbs Up There's a few examples that come to my mind, though there may be a million others:

William Blake's "Jerusalem" in the ELP song of the same name (not to mention in Bruce Dickinson's "The Chemical Wedding" album, which is based on Blake's work)

S.T. Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" in Rush's "Xanadu"

From the same author, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in the Iron Maiden song of the same name (yes, OK, they're not prog, but I love them all the same Tongue)
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Points: 5109 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 10:43
      The most obvious choice is The Alan Parsons Project "Tales of Mystery and Imagination." I know there are more, but nothing comes to mind. In non-prog, Donovan does a cool tune with Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle" on his 2004 album, "Beat Cafe."
    

Edited by bhikkhu - June 28 2006 at 10:44
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Points: 2210 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 10:47

More Blake:  Spring - Songs of Innocence....my favorite cut on Alan White's Ramshackled LP featuring Jon Anderson and Steve Howe.
I like to feel the suspense when you're certain you know I am there.....
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Points: 24429 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 10:55
Not really prog, but very good nonetheless, are William Butler Yeats's "The Two Trees" by Loreena McKennit and "Down By the Salley Gardens" by Clannad.

Then, if we talk about literature in general (not poetry, but a short story in this case), and about inspiration rather than putting the words to music, I think we should mention the monumental "The Call of Ktulu" by Metallica - the best possible soundtrack to HP Lovecraft's chilling short story!


Edited by Ghost Rider - June 28 2006 at 10:57
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Points: 3497 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 11:06
As for Alan Parsons Project "Tales..." -- I never heard it. Is it sung? Or just inspired by Poe?
 
A propos Edgar Poe: I heard Joan Baez version of "Annabel Lee". Not Prog, but sounded well, as I like her voice.
 
And, of course, I have to name Czeslaw Niemen who sang the verses of Polish poets. Though I don't know whether they are considered world classics (my ignorance...). Cyprian Kamil Norwid, probably, is (I hope).
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Points: 3497 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 11:14
Ghost Rider:
 
1. Thanks, I'm pleased you like this thread.
 
2. If we talk about the literature in general, the entire Hammill's album "The Fall of the House of Usher" must be count, not just two songs.
 
...I would like to hear Peter Hammill sings "The Raven"...
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Points: 24429 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 11:20
As far as I know, Alan Parson's "Tales..." is inspired by Poe's collection of short stories of the same name - unfortunately, I've never heard the record, though of course I know the stories.

Ah, I was forgetting a very famous one: Genesis' "The Cinema Show" contains several references to T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" (one of my all-time favourite pieces of poetry - very prog!)
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Points: 5109 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 11:39
Originally posted by Fassbinder Fassbinder wrote:

As for Alan Parsons Project "Tales..." -- I never heard it. Is it sung? Or just inspired by Poe?

    
A little of both. "The Raven" is sung, but electronically distorted. There are lyrics for "The Tell-Tale Heart," and "The Cask of Amontillado." "The Fall of the House of Usher" is instrumental.
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Points: 3497 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 11:53
A quick search in Hammill shows:
pH7, "Imperial Walls" (Anon. 8th century Saxon);
In A Foreign Town "The Play's The Things" has the quotation from Henry IV Pt. 2, Act III, Scene I.
 
Non-poetry: Rick Wakeman "Journey to the Centre of the Earth".
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Points: 171 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 12:46

"Tales of Mystery and Imagination" is IMHO the best work of Alan Parsons Project  -its debut album, actually-

The lyrics are inspired by, but very loyal to the stories. The interplay between band and symphonic orchestra is simply perfect. It's a dark album, full of melancholy, but also with heavy pieces. I know this is not the place for a review, but anyway 5 stars:)
I like Tormato, so shoot me! Every person in the world can't think the same.
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Points: 171 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 12:48
...or 4 and a half, due to the singers. Regular voices...not bad but...
I like Tormato, so shoot me! Every person in the world can't think the same.
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Points: 274 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 13:45
Dream theater's Change Of Seasons has the Robert Herrick lines, "Gather thee rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a-flying, and the same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying."
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Points: 24429 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 13:47
Not strictly poetry, but literature in general: Yes' "The Gates of Delirium" was inspired by Tolstoy's masterpiece "War and Peace".
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Points: 46301 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 13:49
Just read on the front page a review of BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST (BJH) — Nexus
and started thinking: hmm,maybe a connection with the erotic novel of Henry Miller?


















sorry,kidding. Embarrassed
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Points: 2476 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 15:05
'The Cinema Show' (by Genesis) reads like a parody of T.S. Eliot: Tiresias and the two lovers preparing to go out are straight out of 'The Waste Land'.

There also seems to be quite a bit of Eliot influence in Jethro Tull's 'Baker Street Muse' (MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY). I don't think Ian Anderson actually quoted any lines, but the rather dour mood of this (excellent) suite is very Eliot-esque.
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Points: 147 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 15:37
Originally posted by bhikkhu bhikkhu wrote:

      The most obvious choice is The Alan Parsons Project "Tales of Mystery and Imagination." I know there are more, but nothing comes to mind. In non-prog, Donovan does a cool tune with Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle" on his 2004 album, "Beat Cafe."
    
In addition to Beat Cafe (great album by the way!) Donovan used many children's poems in his music. His album "HMS Donovan" is comprised almost entirely of poems set to music. Notable among them are "The Jabberwocky" and "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carrol. Although that's not progressive by any stretch of the imagination. Still a wonderful album though.
 
Hostsonaten also uses "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in a song. That seems to be a popular poem to sample.


Edited by Goldenavatar - June 28 2006 at 15:37
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Points: 965 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 16:58
My favorite use of poetry is from Ambrosia's self-titled album. At a lull in the music, this guy with an extremely scary voice (he sounds like the guy that does the intro to Maiden's The Number of the Beast) recites "Jabberwocky".

And of course, Maiden has a song on Powerslave named "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
When the world is sick
Can't no one be well
But I dreamt we were all
beautiful and strong

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Points: 20032 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 28 2006 at 17:00
Nolan and Wakeman have done a whole album of The Jabberwocky, in which Wakeman Sr recites the poem. I believe they've also done The Hound of the Baskervilles.
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