![]() ![]() You never know with an operation like that if you’re going to pass. NG: The last thing that I wanted, that I remember wanting was-is it okay if I put my “ears” on if I listen to some music. And I said, “Well, okay, take it out, whatever you have to do!” And he did a wonderful job. My surgeon took my left lung out, which I thank him for. NG: Well, I was diagnosed with cancer, and what you’re going to do if you’re laying in the hospital, hoping-you know, you’re going to have an operation. If it’s pointed out to them, they say, “Oh, you’re right! Nothing rhymes in that poem.” It’s so beautiful.ĪS: Is there a time in your life when music felt especially crucial to you? I think it’s the only song of its kind, you know, a State Anthem, that doesn’t rhyme and nobody misses it. You know, some of them work-of course, one of the greatest poems that became a song is “Moonlight In Vermont,” in which nothing rhymes. He says he wrote a song but if you look at “Eleanor Rigby,” it’s very poetic. But more and more, we’re beginning to look at something like “Eleanor Rigby” and we’re saying Paul McCartney, that’s a poem, what he did. Since you’ve worked in both genres, may I ask: in your mind, is there a significant difference between written poetry and song lyrics? You always do.ĪS: I remember a minor conflict with a professor who chided me for bringing in song lyrics when she’d asked us to bring in our favorite poems. But the churches have always been so rhythmic that you grow up hearing the rhythm. were laughing because I went to a service yesterday and the minister said that his daughter said, “Daddy, I’m glad you’re not one of these ‘well’ preachers “ He looked at her and he said, “What do you mean, ‘well’?” She said, “You know, ‘Welllllll….’ and ‘Wellllllll’”. And the Black American church has always been rhythmic. So, how do you think listening to music influenced how you think about the written line and the sonic quality of language? ![]() I loved what he did with it.ĪS: You grew up listening to records and the radio. He changed a little bit of the rhythm, which was also very good. Because he brought some of the music up to date. I was glad, though, some of the music-working with Jay Millar was very, very good. NG: I don’t think my voice has changed that much, so I recognize-I mean, if I was just on the road and turned my radio on, I would recognize it. What was it like to hear yourself again now removed 50 years? Of course, with age, our voices can change, our minds, our contexts? So, it’s been a pleasure to have my 50th-anniversary album-I can’t believe it’s been 50 years-to be brought back out.ĪS: Yes, there have been three albums of yours reissued just recently. Nikki Giovani: Well, I’m really a jazz fan. Giovanni will also be releasing new curated musical works with saxophonist Javon Jackson in February 2022.Īmerican Songwriter: What is your relationship to music today? What comes to mind when you think about it, either of large or small import? We caught up with the 78-year-old, Knoxville, Tennessee-born writer, and activist to ask her about these re-releases, how much music itself means to her, and the difference between lyric and verse. ![]() The records feature Giovanni reading her work over rhythmic, melodic music. More recently, Giovani with Modern Harmonic has re-released three of her albums from the 1970s- Truth Is On Its Way(1971), Like A Ripple On A Pond (1973), and The Way I Feel (1975). ![]() She has also written children’s books and taught at schools like Rutgers and Ohio State University. She’s a Grammy Award-winner, an NAACP Image Award-winner, and was named one of Oprah Winfrey’s 25 “Living Legends.” Giovanni, who earned fame and recognition in the 1960s as one of the foremost voices on the Civil Rights Movement, has since gone on to publish numerous books and poems. There are few people in the world as decorated as writer Nikki Giovanni. ![]()
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