The Poetry of Rock n' Roll: "This Is" by Grace Jones

To observe National Poetry Month, once a week I will be featuring lyrics of rock n' roll or pop songs that also double as poetry.

And let's start off with a bang...a Grace Jones track may seem a bit unlikely but as a songwriter, she has always walked down some interesting avenues. This song's lyrics take the form of a "list poem" but reads as a sort of manifesto with Jones showing us simple flashes of life, humanity, history, and psychology, each preceded by the words "This Is."

This Is
by Grace Jones

This is my voice
My weapon of choice

This is life

This is a plate
This is a cup
This is a story I didn't make up
This is a girl lost in the wood
Some covered wagon from some other 'hood

This is a voice
These are the hands
This is technology
Mixed with the band

Are you going into the light?
Are you free of fear today?
When you lie down to sleep
Do you kind of float away?

This is life

Most of my crimes are of optimism
40 thousand volts of recognition
They tried to strip me of dignity
But I still have tenacity

These are the words I didn't invent
Only an attempt to say what I meant

This is the paper
This is the pen
This is my weapon
A means to an end

Are you going into the desert?
You're out of control of your fate
There are no warriors without a war
To get ahead before it's too late

Lay down your spear
Let go your fear
Far becomes near
Oh Lord
This is life

This is the tree
The Buddha sat under
These are the clouds
This is our thunder
This is what makes me look up and wonder
Into the eye of the wind
Through the rain
On to the plain

This is what I'm focused on
This is my head on straight
This is the harness
This is the bit
This is me
I'm flying again

This is a lawyer
A professional liar
Day after day
Igniting the fire
This is the key
This is the door
Imagine the view from the basement floor

Now you're going into the desert
You're out of control of your fate
Are you a slave in a chain of command
Serving up another man's hate?

This is life

Lay down your spear
Let go your fear
Far becomes near
Look out

Are you going into the light?
Are you freeing your fear today?
When you lie down to sleep
Do you kind of float away?

This is depression
It comes when you're blocking
This is expression
It comes when you're rocking

This is life
When you lie down to sleep
Do you kind of float away?
(This is a plate, this is a cup, this is a story, this is a story I didn't make up)

When you lie down to sleep
Do you kind of float away?
(This is a plate, this is a cup, this is a story I didn't make up)

This is the world still healing
This is man that's feeling
This is the world still turning
This is the rage still burning
This is the man not learning
This is life

Photo by Andrea Klarin

https://www.gracejones.com/

"I've Seen That Face Before" by Grace Jones

It's Diva Wednesday--and if that isn't a thing, then it should be!

I've loved this Grace Jones song, "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)" (a reworking of "Libertango", a 1974 Argentine tango classic written by composer and bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla with an added New Wave-reggae arrangement by legendary music duo Sly and Robbie, and new lyrics penned by Jones with Barry Reynolds) since it was released on her iconic album "Nightclubbing" in 1981.

The video was conceived and directed by Jean-Paul Goude, a French artist-photographer-designer-director who helmed Jones' image during this period (they also have a son, Paulo, from their time together). They were both working with ideas of performance, fashion, art, and music and this video--the last video of her film "A One Man Show"--references the 1916 Dada nightclub Cabaret Voltaire and artist Hugo Ball's famous cardboard suit.

http://missgracejones.com/

"Election Day" by Arcadia

Warning: 80s flashback.

I loved this side project from Duran Duran bandmates Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and Roger Taylor in 1986. The song "Election Day" (which I played to death back in the day) still sounds unique even now with its Eastern European samples and hypnotizing, throbbing bass line. (And Nick's make-up is fantastic in this video!)

Their only album "So Red The Rose" was a fairly artistic affair by pop music standards, with guest appearances by guitarists David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd) and Carlos Alomar (who was Bowie's guitarist), Herbie Hancock, Sting (who sang backing vocals on "The Promise"), Grace Jones (who performed the spoken-word portion on "Election Day"), bass player Mark Egan (of the Pat Metheny Group), and percussionist David Van Tieghem (who has played extensively with Laurie Anderson).

http://www.duranduran.com/