Artistic Merits

Artistic Merits: ‘“Heroes”’ vs “True Love Conquers All” When Bob Dylan found success as a singer and songwriter in the early 1960s, a heated debate was started as to whether his song lyrics could be considered poetry. This controversy has lasted even to this day, with Dylan’s recent reception of the Nobel Prize in Literature creating a new interest in the issue. Despite these debates, Bob Dylan’s deep and profound lyrics have influenced many later artists including Neil Young, The Velvet Underground, and Tupac Shakur. Perhaps the most famous of all musicians influenced by Bob Dylan is the late David Bowie, an English rock star who took Dylan’s poetic influences and musical storytelling to another level that fans and critics could not get enough
of. Throughout his lifetime, Bowie released many acclaimed and poetic tracks including “Space Oddity”, “Lazarus”, and “Changes”. However, ‘“Heroes”’, released in 1977, is David Bowie’s most acclaimed work. Although many people say that music, especially rock music, can in no way be considered poetry, a comparison between ‘“Heroes”’ and similarly themed poem by Mario Lucien Rene Odekerken entitled “True Love Conquers All” reveals that the former is the superior example of artistry, due to its innovative use of rhyme scheme, extended metaphor, and repetition.

While both ‘“Heroes”’ and “True Love Conquers All” both follow the theme that love will triumph against all spirits of adversity and malice, the ways that they cover this theme could not be more different. ‘“Heroes”’ uses an extended metaphor to tell the story of two lovers, separated by the Berlin Wall, and is told by one lover to the other about how he wants to get away from it all and be with the one he loves, saying that one day, and perhaps only for that one day, they can be together and forget about the consequences. To express this, Bowie sings “Though nothing will keep us together / We could steal time, just for one day” (Bowie lines 11-12). Bowie uses several poetic devices and a well-constructed rhyme scheme in his song, making it truly feel like a poem. When writing for the Chicago Tribune, Michael Robbins writes “The most significant way in which songs differ from poems — they're intended to be heard, while poems for some time have been written primarily for the eye” (Robbins 2). However, Bowie’s lyrics could very well have been published as a poem, as his use of poetic devices makes them just as powerful when spoken as they are sung. “True Love Conquers All”, unlike ‘“Heroes”’, does not tell a coherent story, makes almost no use of SOAPSTone elements, and is completely free verse, already making ‘“Heroes”’ the more poetic piece. One similarity between the two pieces is that they both have a similar tone, which is loving and comforting, and fits the shared theme. “True Love Conquers All”, though it was published as a poem, uses very few poetic devices in order to achieve its purpose.
The piece is written completely free verse and literal, with only two metaphors being used in the first and third paragraphs, in a stark contrast to ‘“Heroes”’. This combined with the poor balance of syllables in each line makes “True Love Conquers All” feel more like a paragraph than an artistic poem. It should also be noted that the piece uses almost no SOAPSTone elements. There is no clear speaker, no clear audience, no given or implied purpose, and no occasion can be found in the writing. All of this combined makes “True Love Conquers All” feel not only inartistic, but uninspired and generic, and makes the reader question the author’s
integrity. ‘“Heroes”’ ironically feels much more like a poem than “True Love Conquers All”, as it makes a much more innovative use of poetic devices. One poetic device that is frequently used in Bowie’s lyrics is repetition. Bowie will often repeat the words “nothing”, “I”, and “you” twice in a row throughout the song. This use of repetition makes the song feel like a sincere, natural conversation between two people who love each other, while still feeling artistic. Bowie also uses a unique rhyme scheme which makes use of this repetition. In his rhyme scheme, Bowie will repeat words to create a rhyme, then have a traditional rhyme. This is how most of the stanzas in ‘“Heroes”’ are structured. An example comes from when Bowie sings “I, I wish you could swim / Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim / Though nothing, nothing will keep us together / We can beat them, for ever and ever.” This rhyme scheme makes the song poetic even when simply listening to it. Unlike “True Love Conquers All”, ‘“Heroes”’ makes use of SOAPSTone elements, as it has a clear speaker, audience, occasion, and purpose. As stated earlier, ‘“Heroes”’ tells the story of two lovers separated by the infamous Berlin Wall, as they talk, one of them proclaims that they will someday be together, even if it is only for that day. In 1977, when ‘“Heroes”’ was released, the Berlin Wall was a big issue, and the song was intended to help bring the wall down. Because of this, the story, and by extension, the song, needed to command respect from critics, listeners, and the powers that be. This is why the song uses so many poetic devices, as respect is Bowie’s goal with this track. The claim presented is proven by Matthew Zapruder, who states in an article for the Boston Review; “What I suppose some musicians want is not to be considered poets, but for their lyrics to be read with the same respect they imagine poems are” (Zapruder 1). In conclusion, ‘“Heroes”’ is clearly a better example of artistry than “True Love Conquers All” based on all the evidence discussed including poetic devices, innovation, storytelling, and SOAPSTone elements.
Brian Wheeler, a journalist for the BBC has written an article on the controversy over song lyrics and art, in which he mentions a quote by English poet Simon Artmitage, who states that "songs are not poems, I should say. In fact, songs are often bad poems. Take the music away and what you're left with is often an awkward piece of creative writing full of lumpy syllables, cheesy rhymes,
exhausted cliches and mixed metaphors” (Wheeler 1). The irony in this situation is that “True Love Conquers All”, the “poem” in this case, is the awkward piece of writing full of lumpy syllables, exhausted cliches and mixed metaphors, whereas ‘“Heroes”’ is innovative, artistic, and poetic. Bowie uses an extended metaphor, repetition, among other poetic devices to tell the story of two lovers facing the ultimate challenge, while Odekerken’s writing is generic, uninspired, and cliché. By beating poetry at its own game, David Bowie proved himself not only to be one of the greatest rock musicians of his era, but an exceptional poet in his own right.