Singerpoets

Singerpoets are artists who combine poetry with vocal performance, blending lyric poetry with music. The term can describe poets who perform their own verse with accompaniment as well as musicians who write and sing lyric poetry. In practice, singerpoets work across genres, from folk and rock to spoken word and experimental song.

The concept has deep roots in the Western tradition of poet-performers who narrated or sang verses with melody, including medieval troubadours, meistersingers, and other court poets. In the 20th century, the boundary between poet and musician broadened with the rise of the singer-songwriter and lyric poets who perform publicly. The label “singerpoet” is not a fixed academic classification; it varies by context and emphasis.

Notable figures commonly cited as singerpoets include Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Jim Morrison, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Kate Tempest. Cohen published poetry and novels as well as songs; Dylan’s lyrics are widely studied as poetry; Smith expanded the tradition with performance poetry and rock; Waits and Cave are known for their lyrical, narrative songwriting; Tempest blends spoken word with hip hop and indie rock.

In modern discourse, the term is used to emphasize the literary qualities of a performer's lyrics and the integration of poetry with music. Critics debate whether songwriting should be treated as poetry, but many acknowledge the influence of singerpoets on contemporary literature and music.