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Patti Smith Collected Lyrics, 1970-2015
To honor the fortieth anniversary of her seminal album Horses , a revised and updated version of the iconic artist’s collected lyrics. This extraordinary collection from “rock and roll’s poet laureate” is a testimony to the fierce passion and uncompromising originality of Patti Smith’s music and writing. Building on the collection originally published in 1998, this new edition features more than thirty-five new songs, new artwork, and an introduction from Patti Smith herself. As relevant, fresh, and searing as when they were originally written, Smith’s lyrics capture her unique voice, raw in beauty, grace, and authenticity. Sharing a message of dedication, love, and compassion that speaks across the ages, Smith’s words empower fans and reveal the strong yet vulnerable heart of woman defined by her art.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 27, 2015
About the author
Patti Smith
151 books12.1k followersPATTI SMITH is a writer, performer, and visual artist. She gained recognition in the 1970s for her revolutionary merging of poetry and rock. She has released twelve albums, including Horses, which has been hailed as one of the top one hundred albums of all time by Rolling Stone.
Smith had her first exhibit of drawings at the Gotham Book Mart in 1973 and has been represented by the Robert Miller Gallery since 1978. Her books include Just Kids, winner of the National Book Award in 2010, Wītt, Babel, Woolgathering, The Coral Sea, and Auguries of Innocence.
In 2005, the French Ministry of Culture awarded Smith the title of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, the highest honor given to an artist by the French Republic. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
Smith married the musician Fred Sonic Smith in Detroit in 1980. They had a son, Jackson, and a daughter, Jesse. Smith resides in New York City.
Smith had her first exhibit of drawings at the Gotham Book Mart in 1973 and has been represented by the Robert Miller Gallery since 1978. Her books include Just Kids, winner of the National Book Award in 2010, Wītt, Babel, Woolgathering, The Coral Sea, and Auguries of Innocence.
In 2005, the French Ministry of Culture awarded Smith the title of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, the highest honor given to an artist by the French Republic. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
Smith married the musician Fred Sonic Smith in Detroit in 1980. They had a son, Jackson, and a daughter, Jesse. Smith resides in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 9, 2016
"You're the kind of girl
I'd like to find
in my mirror"
I'd like to find
in my mirror"
February 21, 2017
An updated version of the collected lyrics - this one goes up to and includes the songs from "Banga" and features new notes and footnotes from Smith as well as a new introduction and collected 'one-off' songs from films and other album outtakes. We get - in chronological order - the full story of Smith's artistic vision in song; the eulogies and elegies for fallen soldiers, the various ways she's told the tale of supporting creative freedom and the human longing to make, and to mean something. Some wonderful lyrics/poems here.
December 14, 2018
I know, I know, another 5 stars for Patti Smith. But when an artist's body of work is that large, and that significant, and never-less than FASCINATING, I can't not give it 5 stars.
I decided to use this book as an excuse to listen to all of her albums again, listening to what she describes as "three chords merged with the power of the word." Loved it. Obviously.
In contrast to her beautiful prose, what's startling and occasionally shocking abut her poetry is how the images she creates are often so ugly. Things recur: angels, God, mountains, skies. Her lyrics are haunted by religion, and the ghosts of those close to her that died prematurely, among them the subject of her memoir 'Just Kids, Robert Mapplethorpe, and her late husband and songwriting partner, Fred Sonic Smith.
She's also such a brilliant and instinctive improviser, so these lyrics are more like the blueprints of the majority of these songs, though I guess it's also true that they are also sometimes direct transcripts of studio improvisations. It gives her lyrics an ephemeral quality that is so fascinating, given the subject of so much of her work is, well, loss.
I decided to use this book as an excuse to listen to all of her albums again, listening to what she describes as "three chords merged with the power of the word." Loved it. Obviously.
In contrast to her beautiful prose, what's startling and occasionally shocking abut her poetry is how the images she creates are often so ugly. Things recur: angels, God, mountains, skies. Her lyrics are haunted by religion, and the ghosts of those close to her that died prematurely, among them the subject of her memoir 'Just Kids, Robert Mapplethorpe, and her late husband and songwriting partner, Fred Sonic Smith.
She's also such a brilliant and instinctive improviser, so these lyrics are more like the blueprints of the majority of these songs, though I guess it's also true that they are also sometimes direct transcripts of studio improvisations. It gives her lyrics an ephemeral quality that is so fascinating, given the subject of so much of her work is, well, loss.
June 5, 2017
3.5 stars. Cool poetry considering it rhymed and I'm not a fan of rhyming poetry. Waned a bit towards the end but started strong and I didn't get bored.
August 27, 2019
I loved how she describes herself in the preface as going through the debris of the sixties. It really fits with what I think of her in the context of the history of rock and roll. not quite the sixties, but way ahead of her time when it comes to punk and all of that.
Not mentioning her artistic soul and approach that shines in every book of hers.
There’s a special quality in those lyrics which I could not read as just poems, but I kept hearing that velvet underground sound with that rushing train rhythm. I also surprisingly found a lot of little Richard in the rhythm of the lyrics, which is not surprising since she describes him in the preface as her first hypnotizing influence when she first heard him as a kid.
But I also must admit that most of the time I was curious to find how the lyrics fit with the music, since I don’t know all of her albums, and to be honest, most of them work best as rock songs rather than poems.
Not mentioning her artistic soul and approach that shines in every book of hers.
There’s a special quality in those lyrics which I could not read as just poems, but I kept hearing that velvet underground sound with that rushing train rhythm. I also surprisingly found a lot of little Richard in the rhythm of the lyrics, which is not surprising since she describes him in the preface as her first hypnotizing influence when she first heard him as a kid.
But I also must admit that most of the time I was curious to find how the lyrics fit with the music, since I don’t know all of her albums, and to be honest, most of them work best as rock songs rather than poems.
May 5, 2017
Love you Patricia, 4eva & eva & eva. You are a queen among gods among light particles among strawberries among crows among rainbows among junk yards among men.
November 2, 2022
Belakangan, saya suka mencampuri (atau jika boleh dikata, menyangkutpautkan) dua hingga tiga jenis kesenian sebagai sebuah media penyampaian yang lebih eksploratif dan bebas. Rasanya agak membosankan saja membiarkan suatu karya seni tertentu terkurung dalam media yang itu saja--seolah media lainnya tak mampu memberikan pelebaran atas pesan atau makna yang bisa didapat.
Perkenalan saya dengan Patti Smith dimulai ketika saya menonton pembuka acara Nobel Sastra (kalau tidak salah, Nobel 2016--yang dimenangkan oleh Bob Dylan pada bidang sastra). Patti Smith, sebagai kawan karib Dylan, barangkali, bisa pula disebut anak angkatnya bergerak dengan menawarkan hal baru dalam penulisan liriknya. Patti Smith, sebagai ratu punk di dunia, menggabungkan bagaimana eksplorasi penulisan puisi ke dalam liriknya, yang belakangan kupikir sudah mulai banyak ditinggalkan oleh musisi-musisi kontemporer. Tentu ini adalah satu pandangan subjektif belaka, bisa jadi saya tak mengulik lebih jauh musik-musik kontemporer.
Tawaran yang diberikan oleh Patti Smith tentu menarik. Kita mesti melihat bahwa Smith sendiri tumbuh dengan semangat menulis puisi, pada awalnya, hingga kemudian terlibat lebih jauh dalam skena musik, yang justru memberikannya ruang lebih besar sebagai musisi ketimbang penyair. Tawaran dalam lirik-liriknya menyerupai disiplin-disiplin puisi, memberikan angin segar dalam bentuk-bentuk metafora, rima-irama, bahkan pola yang tidak terkekang.
Boleh jadi, hal ini berubah sekian waktu Smith tumbuh dalam skena musik. Menghadirkan rentangan lirik yang ditulis sejak 1970-2015, yang artinya terdapat sekitar 45 tahun catatan tulisan memperlihatkan kita seberapa jauh pola pikir Smith melihat situasi yang berada di sekitarnya. Rentangan itu memperlihatkan berbagai macam hal, setidaknya lirik-lirik awal yang ditulis oleh Smith memperlihatkan kedalamannya sensitifitasnya melihat dunia: bagaimana ia melihat perang, kepekaannya melihat dunia yang perlahan bergerak, dan lain semacamnya.
Tidak cuma didasari pada perasaan-perasaan yang lahir dari hukum sebab-akibat dalam dunia, Smith juga menyelam ke dalam ceruk yang lebih personal. Smith menjunjung dengan tinggi kebebasan dalam mencipta, juga bagaimana manusia berusaha menemukan makna dalam eksistensinya. Beberapa lirik di dalamnya, jelas saja membawa semangat eksistensial itu, tengok pada potongan berikut:
You're the kind of girl
I'd like to find
in my mirror
Smith, tentu bukan seorang musisi yang hendak bermewah-mewah dengan nada. Bahkan pada satu kesempatan, ia berkata kekuatannya adalah "tiga kunci berbaur dengan kekuatan sebuah kata." Ini adalah semacam penanda, bahwa Smith memiliki kesadaran tekstual yang lebih jauh (yang barangkali, belum tentu dimiliki oleh banyak musisi lainnya). Alih-alih melihat kumpulan lirik ini sebagaimana adanya sebuah lirik, saya lebih tertarik untuk melihatnya sebagai purwarupa sebuah cetak biru dari apa yang kemudian masuk ke dalam dapur rekaman dengan berbagai penyesuaian artistiknya.
Dengan rentangan yang sebegitu panjang, saya sebagai pembaca tentu menemukan lebih banyak kementahan yang orisinil, yang liar, dualisme antar yang personal dan politikal di puisi atau lirik awal kariernya. Hal tersebut tidak buruk, tapi Smith kemudian menjadi lebih banyak belajar, dan mematangkannya. Buku ini jadi seperti ruang yang memperlihatkan tumbuh kembang Patti Smith sebagai seorang rockstar cum poet. Lirik-liriknya dihantui perasaan-perasaan gelap yang hinggap dalam hingarbingar sebuah lampu kota. Hal ini, tentu, berbanding terbalik dengan bagaimana karya-karya lainnya, memoarnya, misalnya, penuh dengan kehangatan.
Mari tutup ulasan ini dengan bagaimana lirik Smith tak hanya berkelindan dengan dunia di sekitarnya, namun juga dirinya. Lebih jauh, tidak hanya berkelindan dengan musik, tapi juga upaya menangkap kesastraan dengan sensitif di dalamnya:
Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine.
Patti Smith punya kredibilitas untuk dikatakan sebagai salah satu penulis lirik-puisi terbaik sepanjang masa.
Perkenalan saya dengan Patti Smith dimulai ketika saya menonton pembuka acara Nobel Sastra (kalau tidak salah, Nobel 2016--yang dimenangkan oleh Bob Dylan pada bidang sastra). Patti Smith, sebagai kawan karib Dylan, barangkali, bisa pula disebut anak angkatnya bergerak dengan menawarkan hal baru dalam penulisan liriknya. Patti Smith, sebagai ratu punk di dunia, menggabungkan bagaimana eksplorasi penulisan puisi ke dalam liriknya, yang belakangan kupikir sudah mulai banyak ditinggalkan oleh musisi-musisi kontemporer. Tentu ini adalah satu pandangan subjektif belaka, bisa jadi saya tak mengulik lebih jauh musik-musik kontemporer.
Tawaran yang diberikan oleh Patti Smith tentu menarik. Kita mesti melihat bahwa Smith sendiri tumbuh dengan semangat menulis puisi, pada awalnya, hingga kemudian terlibat lebih jauh dalam skena musik, yang justru memberikannya ruang lebih besar sebagai musisi ketimbang penyair. Tawaran dalam lirik-liriknya menyerupai disiplin-disiplin puisi, memberikan angin segar dalam bentuk-bentuk metafora, rima-irama, bahkan pola yang tidak terkekang.
Boleh jadi, hal ini berubah sekian waktu Smith tumbuh dalam skena musik. Menghadirkan rentangan lirik yang ditulis sejak 1970-2015, yang artinya terdapat sekitar 45 tahun catatan tulisan memperlihatkan kita seberapa jauh pola pikir Smith melihat situasi yang berada di sekitarnya. Rentangan itu memperlihatkan berbagai macam hal, setidaknya lirik-lirik awal yang ditulis oleh Smith memperlihatkan kedalamannya sensitifitasnya melihat dunia: bagaimana ia melihat perang, kepekaannya melihat dunia yang perlahan bergerak, dan lain semacamnya.
Tidak cuma didasari pada perasaan-perasaan yang lahir dari hukum sebab-akibat dalam dunia, Smith juga menyelam ke dalam ceruk yang lebih personal. Smith menjunjung dengan tinggi kebebasan dalam mencipta, juga bagaimana manusia berusaha menemukan makna dalam eksistensinya. Beberapa lirik di dalamnya, jelas saja membawa semangat eksistensial itu, tengok pada potongan berikut:
You're the kind of girl
I'd like to find
in my mirror
Smith, tentu bukan seorang musisi yang hendak bermewah-mewah dengan nada. Bahkan pada satu kesempatan, ia berkata kekuatannya adalah "tiga kunci berbaur dengan kekuatan sebuah kata." Ini adalah semacam penanda, bahwa Smith memiliki kesadaran tekstual yang lebih jauh (yang barangkali, belum tentu dimiliki oleh banyak musisi lainnya). Alih-alih melihat kumpulan lirik ini sebagaimana adanya sebuah lirik, saya lebih tertarik untuk melihatnya sebagai purwarupa sebuah cetak biru dari apa yang kemudian masuk ke dalam dapur rekaman dengan berbagai penyesuaian artistiknya.
Dengan rentangan yang sebegitu panjang, saya sebagai pembaca tentu menemukan lebih banyak kementahan yang orisinil, yang liar, dualisme antar yang personal dan politikal di puisi atau lirik awal kariernya. Hal tersebut tidak buruk, tapi Smith kemudian menjadi lebih banyak belajar, dan mematangkannya. Buku ini jadi seperti ruang yang memperlihatkan tumbuh kembang Patti Smith sebagai seorang rockstar cum poet. Lirik-liriknya dihantui perasaan-perasaan gelap yang hinggap dalam hingarbingar sebuah lampu kota. Hal ini, tentu, berbanding terbalik dengan bagaimana karya-karya lainnya, memoarnya, misalnya, penuh dengan kehangatan.
Mari tutup ulasan ini dengan bagaimana lirik Smith tak hanya berkelindan dengan dunia di sekitarnya, namun juga dirinya. Lebih jauh, tidak hanya berkelindan dengan musik, tapi juga upaya menangkap kesastraan dengan sensitif di dalamnya:
Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine.
Patti Smith punya kredibilitas untuk dikatakan sebagai salah satu penulis lirik-puisi terbaik sepanjang masa.
April 23, 2017
I love Patti Smith's lyrics. Sometimes they can be quite dense in meaning, but always they are interesting and challenging, political and personal.
July 23, 2018
Love Patti! I would read anything by her, its always so lovely and touching.
May 3, 2024
Wake up hearts dressed in rags/ Costly garments fall away/Dangle now in truthful threads/ That bind the breast/ And wind the muscle/ Of the soul and whole together
- Notes to the Future
Such a powerful compilation of lyrics - the discography of albums, film songs and other poems - hymns that shake our hearts and change us - make us want change, believe in it. Rebellious manifestoes and love chansons. Political cries that echo in one's mind.
There is beauty and strength and hope emanating through them, gripping you with their speeding heart, vulnerability and galloping, raw passion.
The pages burst with Patti's brave, beautiful soul and they make you think and they make you inspired. I also loved to observe her developement as an artist.
We can turn the earth's revolution
- People Have The Power
- Notes to the Future
Such a powerful compilation of lyrics - the discography of albums, film songs and other poems - hymns that shake our hearts and change us - make us want change, believe in it. Rebellious manifestoes and love chansons. Political cries that echo in one's mind.
There is beauty and strength and hope emanating through them, gripping you with their speeding heart, vulnerability and galloping, raw passion.
The pages burst with Patti's brave, beautiful soul and they make you think and they make you inspired. I also loved to observe her developement as an artist.
We can turn the earth's revolution
- People Have The Power
May 17, 2018
I love Patti Smith, and much more now after enjoying this book.
As expected, the poetry with which I was most familiar, her earliest work, grabbed me quickly and set a great tone for the book.
Though some of her later poems had a maturity that comes from age and practice compared to he early ones, I still preferred her earliest songs and poems the most. There is a raw energy and anger to them that captures not just her own youth, but the era in which they were written.
This was a great companion book to read beside Under The Big Black Sun, even if they represent two different waves and two different coasts of punk.
☠
Hardcover, First
Ecco, 2015
Three Stars
May 14-16, 2018
☠
As expected, the poetry with which I was most familiar, her earliest work, grabbed me quickly and set a great tone for the book.
Though some of her later poems had a maturity that comes from age and practice compared to he early ones, I still preferred her earliest songs and poems the most. There is a raw energy and anger to them that captures not just her own youth, but the era in which they were written.
This was a great companion book to read beside Under The Big Black Sun, even if they represent two different waves and two different coasts of punk.
☠
Hardcover, First
Ecco, 2015
Three Stars
May 14-16, 2018
☠
January 28, 2018
3.5 stars! I s'pose this was my first proper brush with poetry - probably not the best to start with a relatively thick book, but hey, it's Patti Smith, and I love virtually everything she's done. There were a handful of poems I adored, but there was a section where I found the poems a bit bland. It picked up in the final section, though. But who cares, right? Poetry is subjective and regardless, now I have lyrics to all of her songs :D
December 4, 2018
A special collection, and with an inspiring foreword, too.
"We all have a song. A song comes spontaneously, expressing joy, loneliness, to dispel fear or exhibit a small triumph. We hardly notice we are forming them, as we sing them, often alone, half to ourselves. It is finding the words within that leads us to sing. It might be a hymn, a shard of rebellion, or a teenage prayer."
"We all have a song. A song comes spontaneously, expressing joy, loneliness, to dispel fear or exhibit a small triumph. We hardly notice we are forming them, as we sing them, often alone, half to ourselves. It is finding the words within that leads us to sing. It might be a hymn, a shard of rebellion, or a teenage prayer."
Read
January 29, 2022Smith's lyrics can be read again and again
A journey of discovery
Again and again
From the early to the youngest
A discovery of the world
sometimes soft, sometimes loud ... rough always with a magic
A journey of discovery
Again and again
From the early to the youngest
A discovery of the world
sometimes soft, sometimes loud ... rough always with a magic
January 29, 2018
Most of what is collected here goes beyond mere lyrics. Patti Smith is a great rock and roll poet.
October 21, 2021
Holy shit so this is poetry.
November 7, 2021
Most of this is pretty run-on-the-mill bad, but there are the first three albums and the stuff before that. You can just stop reading after Easter.
September 25, 2023
Mi año smitheano.
December 28, 2023
Konnte nicht so ganz Zugang finden…
November 22, 2015
I've tried to like Horses, which comes up over and over as a landmark album and a primary influence to two of my favorite lyricists (Michael Stipe and Morrissey). I just can't get into her words and pretentious, changing-the-world meanings. I saw her many years ago - NYE Chicago - and it was an above average show, but she's no Dylan. His lyrics attack you, even when you simply read them. Smith's mostly bore me.
May 20, 2019
I don't have anything to add that hasn't been mentioned in other reviews, so I'll just say she really has a way with words.
December 22, 2017
The poet-laureate of rock, indeed. “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine.” is still one of my favourite lyrics in the history of songwriting.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews