Spoken Word
The other day I was watching Def Poetry Jam and I had a moment. It was one of those ‘I could be doing that’ moments. Anyway, it reminded me of something I wrote a long time ago after going to a poetry reading and leaving feeling really disappointed and kind of empty. I thought I was going to leave filled with inspiration and feeling all deep and intellectual. Here is what I went home and wrote;
Spoken Word
My whole problem with spoken word is that people seem to do it wrong either they talk really quickly and say too many big words at one time trying to sound deep and eloquent or they do the opposite by slowing it down and taalking….. liiiikkkeee… thiiissss… In their quest to sound deep, using the wrong words for emphasis, they tend to lose the audience. Why can’t spoken word be just like well… the spoken word? The best spoken word is when it sounds like you’re just chatting with me, not like I should have graduated from Harvard with an English degree. It’s so frustrating when I have to bring my big old fashioned English dictionary to a reading and have to flip through trying to find your meaning. I just want you to talk to me in plain English. You don’t sound deep or eloquent or whatever you’re trying to do. You sound to me to be more of a fool. I love spoken word, don’t get me wrong. But you really need to stop. I’m sure I can get as deep and use as many gargantuan words (see…) but I’d rather my audience understand me rather that think I’m trying to show off my new handy dandy dictionary. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. And stop yelling!!! That’s what the microphone is for. It is what it is.
Peace and Blessings
Sincere
Peace and Blessings
Sincere
Poetry/ Spoken Word | Sincere February 20, 2007
3 Comments to “Spoken Word”
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By tara.star, February 20, 2007 @ 10:35 AM
OH MAN! you hit the nail on the head! i think spoken word has the potential to be that saving grace for those that have a voice and can’t express it through music or other media of art. i love music. i feel music deeply. i feel lyrics deeply. but i can’t write a song to save my life. i can perform somebody else’s music…but my own? naw. so i write poetry. but it could be so much more meaningful through auditory delivery. however i’ve never attempted such BECAUSE of those over the top spoken word performers. it’s intimidating. not that i don’t think i would appreciated. but the people that go for that fantastically extravagant display of wordy words aren’t really listening anyway. je ne sais pas. but you right, dude….it is what it is. 2 fingaz.
By mosaeus, September 10, 2008 @ 7:48 PM
haha, I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’ve been writing poems for years, and the first time I went I went to hear spoken word I was sooo disappointed. It seems that the emphasis is put all on the cadence / delivery, and not on the subject matter. Don’t get me wrong, delivery is very important, but if you’re “delivering” the abc’s, it doesn’t matter how you’re saying it, it’s still the alphabet, no?
By Sincere, September 10, 2008 @ 7:54 PM
what up Mosaeus! Thanx for stopping through! It got to the point where I just stopped going to open mic sessions.. everybody starting sounding alike. and ever since Def poetry jam it got worse! I’m all about the content, the delivery is cool but if you ain’t saying nothing than you wasting my time!