Phil Lynott was inspired by W.B Yeats, Irish mythology, and Irish literature among many. In his song, Róisín Dubh (also known as Little Black Rose) he pays homage to his love of Ireland as well as the likes of W. B.Yeats, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, James Clarence Mangan, and Van Morrison. While Lynott wrote many songs, he also wrote poetry releasing two books. One released in 1974, and another in 1977. The books today are few and far between, with only about one thousand copies still circulating the world.

Lynott’s poetry was not as well received, as many musicians struggle with. Some complain that Lynott’s poetry were more so song and not really poetry at all. Here’s my analogy of this age old issue…. You see, the artist has this recipe they put out into the world (aka the song, painting, poem, drawing, etc.) in this cookbook of their art, so to speak. The critic receives the cookbook. The critic is intrigued and wants to try out this recipe (song, poem, etc). So they start to put together the ingredients. The critic gets to the add milk part of that recipe. But the critic is lactose intolerant. The critic is unaware that the recipe goes best with cows milk. The critic is limited in how they can digest the recipe. Instead they add oat milk or almond milk. The type of milk the critic uses ends up botching the recipe. The recipe ends up tasting not the way it was intended to. You see, the artist has no control over how the recipe turns out once the critic adds their own influence. The critics own influence adds to how the art is perceived once it hits the critics brain. Sometimes it slaps just right, and other times it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth.

What I am saying outside of the analogy if you are completely lost now is that poetry and music are not the same. There are similarities, but they are not the same. How the artist perceives art, and how others receive the art are also not one and the same.

Phil Lynott left us with some great music, and some nice poetry as well. A legacy for a light that burned fast and bright. While Lynott’s poetry isn’t so easy to find… luck was on my side. I got ahold of one original poem Lynott wrote… prior to Lynott turning it into song by adding chorus. So I leave you with this poetry reading of, Songs for While I’m Away. Hopefully you aren’t poetry intolerant! (Wink,wink). But if you are, then maybe stick to the Thin Lizzy songs.

-Keri