I have a friend who, along with being a music instructor, is an accomplished bass and guitar player and no telling what else. The music he plays is anything from country western to jazz (his favorite, I think). I am going to mat a picture and poem for him and I could use your suggestions for an appropriate poem.

Artist Lyrics: Bread
Song Lyrics: The Guitar Man
Album Lyrics: Guitar Man


Who draws the crowd and plays so loud,
Baby it's the guitar man.
Who's gonna steal the show, you know
Baby it's the guitar man,

He can make you love, he can make you cry
He will bring you down, then he'll get you high
Somethin' keeps him goin', miles and miles a day
To find another place to play.

Night after night who treats you right,
Baby it's the guitar man
Who's on the radio, you go listen
To the guitar man

Then he comes to town, and you see his face,
And you think you might like to take his place
Somethin' keeps him driftin' miles and miles away
Searchin' for the songs to play.

Then you listen to the music and you like to sing along,
You want to get the meaning out of each and ev'ry song
Then you find yourself a message and some words to call your own
And take them home.

He can make you love, he can get you high
He will bring you down, then he'll make you cry
Somethin' keeps him movin', but no one seems to know
What it is that makes him go.

Then the lights begin to flicker and the sound is getting dim
The voice begins to falter and the crowds are getting thin
But he never seems to notice he's just got to find
Another place to play,
Anyway got to play, anyway Got to play

Les

heh! heh!

Stairway to Heaven
(Page-Plant)

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed
With a word she can get what she came for

Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a stairway to heaven

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
And you know sometimes words have two meanings
In the tree by the brook there's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven

Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a stairway to heaven

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking

Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a stairway to heaven

And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forest will echo with laughter

And it makes me wonder

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May Queen

Yes there are two paths you can go by
but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on

Your head is humming and it won't go because you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady can't you hear the wind blow and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our souls
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll
Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a stairway to heaven

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed
With a word she can get what she came for

And she's buying a stairway to heaven, uh uh uh.








Leicxky

hmm, probably too big for a mat.


Leicxky

If he likes jazz perhaps "To Sidney Bechet" by Philip Larkin

If he's Judeo-Christian in a big way, there are passages in the Psalms about how music is a form of worship (timbrel and harp and so forth).

You're lucky that he loves JAZZ because a lot of poets love it, too.

"Jazz, Where is you?" by Loti Lewis:
[www.lotilewis.com] />
I rather like the "Jazz Tyger Poem" at this site:
[www.bestofsanfrancisco.net] /> (And there are more poems there, too.)



Net search for "jazz + poem" to find more.