Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” is much more than just a song, it is a beautiful piece of poetry set in music. Released in 1973 as part of the soundtrack for Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, this classic demonstrates Dylan’s mastery of storytelling, using themes of mortality, loss, and redemption. The simplicity of this song can be very deceptive, but Dylan paints a vivid emotional picture.

Lines like “Mama, take this badge off of me / I can’t use it anymore” use symbolism to represent a request to let go of burdens and responsibilities. This sets the somber tone for the rest of the song. The repetition of the line “Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door,” serves as a metaphor for life’s end, the repetition showing the ultimate goal of finding peace.

Dylan’s minimalist approach highlights the power of simplicity, allowing listeners to feel the weight of his words. The juxtaposition of lines like “Mama, put my guns in the ground / I can’t shoot them anymore” contrasts conflict and peace, showing the speaker’s readiness and need for rest.

Through imagery and universal themes, Bob Dylan can turn a few brief verses into a timeless piece of art heard by people around the world, showing that music can be poetry.

Guns N’ Roses also did a pretty awesome cover of the song.

“Crown” is a song made by Kendrick Lamar. “Crown,” is a song off of the Mr. Morale & The Big Steppas Album, released in 2022.

Starting off the song with,

You walk around like everything is in control
Favor come with favors and you can’t say no
Go out the way to make the coin available
That’s what I call love.

This song is mostly talking about the loyalty and love between the people that Kendrick Lamar consider to be close. He also discusses the reality of his limitations of helping everybody or fitting certain standards of other people. When he says to make the coin available he means that even though they wouldn’t have access to much, making the most of what they have is considered love.

And I can’t please everybody
No, I can’t please everybody
Wait, you can’t please everybody
No, I can’t please everybody

Throughout the whole song Kendrick continues to repeat the same lyrics that he cannot please everybody. He does this so that he gets his point across about his struggle about pleasing everybody. Most of the song is just for listeners to memorize that he keeps coming back to that idea.

But the time, it’ll come (but the time, it’ll come)
To not be there when somebody needs you (when somebody needs you)
You say no and all you’ve done gives them amnesia (they don’t remember)
One thing I’ve learned, love can change with the seasons

Similarly Kendrick talks about how you cannot be there for everybody and there will be a time where people will come to you in need of support and you will say you cant. He gives another line when he says it just gives them amnesia because they will end up coming back again. In the last line he says love can change with the seasons. Implying that love is only temporary and it doesn’t solidify anything. Although earlier in the song it is clear that it is loyalty over love.

The lyrics of “Loose Cannon” by Puzzle are packed with poetic qualities that elevate them beyond typical song lyrics. Take the line,

Elephant on my chest.

This metaphor immediately conveys a heavy emotional burden—often symbolizing anxiety or depression. The image of an elephant, large and impossible to ignore, makes the abstract feeling of stress physically evident. This is a core trait of poetry: using vivid imagery to communicate complex emotions in a tangible way.

Another poetic moment comes with,

He’s afraid of what he’ll find.
Look into his eyes.

This line captures a moment of vulnerability and fear—fear of confronting something hidden deep within. The eyes here are more than just a physical feature; they symbolize the soul and the emotional struggle to face one’s own truths. Poetry often uses this kind of imagery to reveal psychological depth, and here, it invites reflection on personal fears and self-doubt.

I waste my energy looking for escape within

offers a view of internal conflict. The search for “escape within” suggests a futile attempt to resolve inner turmoil, making the line resonate with anyone who’s ever battled their own mind. It captures the feeling of being trapped by one’s thoughts—a theme that’s deeply poetic and universally relatable.

In these few lines, Puzzle uses metaphor, emotional depth, and introspection to express complex feelings with simplicity and power. These qualities—imagery, vulnerability, and psychological insight—are hallmarks of poetry, making “Loose Cannon” not just a song, but a poem in its own right.

Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb“, is located on the tail end of the best-selling double LP of all time, The Wall. This concept album showcases the effects that childhood trauma can have on an individual and explores themes of isolation and loneliness. The main character’s (Pink’s) father died fighting in World War II and Pink has subsequently had an oppressive upbringing. The song begins with a doctor talking to an adult Pink who has overdosed in his hotel room.

Hello
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone at home?

Earlier in the album, Pink asks himself if there “is anybody out there” due to his feelings of having no human connections to anybody. His relationship with his wife falls apart and when he calls her on the phone, there’s “nobody home”. The doctor’s introduction juxtaposes the questions that Pink is asking himself. He has made himself unavailable to the outside world through his internal “wall”, and people aren’t sure if there is truly a sane person inside the husk of his former self.

After the doctor asks Pink to show him “where it hurts”, Pink responds in his mind by thinking

There is no pain, you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying

The pain is not physical, it is a deep psychological pain that has been with him throughout the majority of his life. Possibly due to the drugs, or to his lack of human connection, he only catches glimpses of what the doctor is saying and can never quite understand. The ship is a metaphor for Pink’s feelings of isolation and helplessness. Help is visible, but out of reach, an ocean between it and himself.

When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons
Now I’ve got that feeling once again
I can’t explain, you would not understand
This is not how I am

Pink was innocent as a child, but due to the evil nature of the world, he was warped and cut himself off from people as a defense mechanism. His outward persona is not his true self, but no one understands what he is going through. This has caused him to become “comfortably numb.”

The doctor administers Pink some medicine, which gets him out of his drug-induced comatose state and prompts him to recall his childhood.

When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone
I have become comfortably numb

Perhaps as a child, he had a vision of what he would become; the weight of the world and the passage of time crushed his dreams and hope for a happy life, reducing him to a zombie who cannot be psychologically hurt by others because he is comfortably numb.