Now, as a songwriter or lyricist you may have been scammed at one time or know someone who has by those famous words, “Set your poems to music”. There are a wide variety of companies that prey on budding lyricists saying they will take their words and put a Top 40 composition with them and all parties will make millions.

Well, oddly enough singer and songwriter Natalie Merchant has done this but in a different way, and the way she has done this has been very successful. Merchant’s new Leave Your Sleep album is a collection of 26 historical poems from around the world written by others.

Natalie Merchant found these poems, set her own music to them and then recorded her album plus work on an accompanying booklet. It was a little more complicated than this, though, having vast resources at the star’s disposal. According to this article, “I had three research assistants just finding information about the poets, because some of them were so obscure. I had a copyright researcher, and I had two lawyers doing clearances and a picture researcher. That was my team.”

Of course, if you’re a composer in need of lyrics, this could be an avenue that you, too can explore. You’ll most likely have to do your own legwork as you probably don’t have a “team” such as Natalie Merchant has. Then again, there may be some lyrical gems waiting out there ready to be snatched up.

Filed under: Lyrics