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Useless Magic

"I don't know what makes a song a song and a poem a poem: they have started to bleed into each other at this stage."

Useless Magic is a collection of lyrics and poems by Florence + The Machine front woman Florence Welch.  And it is wonderful.  A raw look at the mind of an artist.  
What makes poetry and lyrics different from each other? Strip away the music and you'll find out.  With a song we not only hear the words, but the music.  The instrumental flows through us.  The rhythm affect us.  The Music influences us.  But you take those exact same words and put them on blank paper and you are left with nothing but your interpretations.  Nothing to influence you but your own thoughts and emotions.  They are just words, and words are powerful.  I was surprised to find that many of the songs I thought of as more upbeat took on and entirely new and darker meaning when the words were removed from the music.
Lyrics and poetry.  It's a very fine line.
The book itself is gorgeous.  An embossed hardcover filled with handwritten notes and old photographs.  It has a delightfully vintage feel to it and I can't help but hope that my great grandchildren will someday find it stuffed away in a dusty attic or basement and wonder at the words their grandmother loved.


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