Have any great poets written song lyrics in the modern era?

Cafe Society
1

Are there many examples of poets writing lyrics for singers, with the results being really impressive?

I’m not talking about Bob Dylan, Shane MacGowan etc.; singers who are also knockout lyricists. I’m after examples of great poets who have shared their poems with musicians to interpret.

Reason for the post is that I can think of one dynamite example, which is Luke Kelley singing Raglan Road. Raglan Road was written by Patrick Kavanagh, one of the foremost Irish poets of the last century. Luke Kelley is a legendary Irish folk singer who sang with The Dubliners, amongst others. The results are breathtaking IMHO:

Youtube link. Caution: Irishman singing with deep, deep passion

Luke could sing the phonebook and it would be an emotive experience, but the combination of some real poetry and that voice produces a very special song. I’d love to hear some other songs that have sprung from a similar union of talents.

2

I’m not that much into poetry, so I don’t know how great of poet he is, but Wyn Cooper’s poem Fun was used by Cheryl Crow for the lyrics to All I wanna do.

I always loved the lyrics to that song and I was surprised when I found out that they were originally a poem. But I’m not into poetry so I can’t say how great of a poem it is.

3

“Fun” by Wyn Cooper became “All I Wanna Do” by Sheryl Crow. I’m not sure who qualifies as purely a “great poet” in the modern era.

4

Not sure if this is exactly what you’re looking for, but Leonard Cohen received great acclaim for his poetry before he starting singing and recording his own music.