Rethinking
Here's an very interesting point that a reader brought up in a comment to two posts ago. Popular/Modern/whatever-you-like-to-call-it music is perhaps not converging with poetry in the simple way that I mentioned. With the little knowledge that I have, I still believe that the notion of musical evolution in most contemporary music is declining. Perhaps we are not seeing a convergence with poetry in the strict sense, but perhaps we are seeing the creation of a new art form: "poetomusic", if you will. In this so called "poetomusic", it is not the meaning of the words that matters. Rather, it is the sound of the words that matters. As the reader mentions, it's not that the words are meaningless, but there is a convergence of sound and the spoken word.
Now that I think about it, all of this is rather obvious, and I don't know why I'm making such a fuss about it. I think I'm missing the point... because I don't think I've quite decided what the point is, or was, for this whole vein of blog. Maybe I'm losing my mind.
Okay, maybe I was a bit wrong in my analysis. The meaning of the words still matters in one level, and is part of the appeal, but what makes the music aurally appealing is the sound of the words.
And Adam, we all lost our minds a long time ago.
Before we get too carried away with this notion that poetry in music is a post-1985 thing, don't forget the likes of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, etc. As for poetry mixed with words that sound cool, check out Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues.
Of course, for poetry and cool-sounding language in music these days, any of the MTV site's remixes of Howard Dean's Iowa speech are pretty hard to beat.