On Murray's Run: Songs & Lyrics

Renowned songwriter Joe Dolce has long outgrown the pop lyric and moved into a risky domain where recitative comedy folk and slapstick build shelters for themselves among social commentary and the poetry of lists. He has a foot or feet in diverse realms serious and entertaining and has resolved that he will never record another song that has not been first published as a stand-alone poem. No colleague to his knowledge has yet ventured into this territory yet its potentials for escape from the shiftily High Serious and the narrow criteria of academic critique are obvious. Wit and the songwriters freedoms of seeing ones creations recorded by others are possible bases for a jazz-like shift in the profession of poetry and music remains available to float logjams that commentary is apt to desiccate. Since coming to Quadrant as a regular contributor he has built a real following for his work and well miss him when his vogue spreads beyond our pages. - Les Murray