"I think the musicality of these poets is often ignored"

September 18, 2013 6:31 PM

The poet Cassandra Gillig mashes up recordings of poets reading their work with the instrumental tracks from contemporary pop songs. She doesn't do this to be "even remotely irreverent," but rather because she believes "pop music has a way of capturing our emotions in their most palatable form & placing pop songs behind poems can guide us incorrectly or correctly but I’m hoping I’m going in a correct direction." Listen: Dylan Thomas with Miley Cyrus, Sylvia Plath with Rihanna and Eminem, Alice Notley with Justin Timberlake, Frank O'Hara with Drake, Hannah Weiner with Beyonce, William Carlos Williams with Wale, Dana Ward with Katy Perry, Dorothea Lasky with Raekwon, Ted Berrigan with Kendrick Lamar, and Richard Brautigan with Mariah Carey.
posted by raisindebt (9 comments total)

I've only listened to a few but they're actually pretty interesting. They work way better than I thought that they would.
posted by hepta at 6:38 PM on September 18, 2013

"Do not go gentle into that good night" now sounds like Dylan Thomas talking to himself as he's swallowed by Miley Cyrus.
posted by Beardman at 6:58 PM on September 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

started with Dylan Thomas, fell in love with the first few lines.

Which drives home the point I've been trying to make for years. Poetry is more alive than it's ever been and more relevant, and hiding out in plain sight -- in so-called pop music.

Ever since Bob Dylan went electric.
posted by philip-random at 7:51 PM on September 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I started with Brautigan and Mariah Carey. I think he might have liked her.
posted by current occupation: at 8:14 PM on September 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

The "we will never replace you/we will never replace you" line in the Notley/Timberlake piece was really powerful.
posted by elmer benson at 8:17 PM on September 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

He needs to have a musician do these. Get the mix right, and timestretch each word so they really sit in the pocket.
posted by victory_laser at 10:20 PM on September 18, 2013

I'm embarrassed to admit this, because "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" is one of the most widely-quoted poems ever, but I feel like this reading was the first time I ever really got the emotion and the urgency of it. Which probably has a lot to do with actually hearing Thomas read his own words, but in a weird way, it goes well with the vibe of "We Can't Stop."

The Sylvia Plath one was great, too. These all work way better than I would have expected.
posted by lunasol at 10:50 PM on September 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

Is there a way to download these?
posted by rollick at 6:10 AM on September 19, 2013

This is the most beautiful thing I've seen on the internet in a very long time.
posted by R.F.Simpson at 7:21 AM on September 19, 2013 [2 favorites]