Lyrics vs poetry: what is the line between them?

Poetry is descriptive work with a certain style and rhythm.
Whereas lyrics don't have to have style or rhythm and have a definite relation to vocalization whereas poetry does not have to.

Poetry can be turned into lyrics easily. Just look at Lee Ann Womack's, "I Hope You Dance", it was originally a poem she wrote that she later developed into a song. She had to change the composition a tiny bit but it was still originally a poem.

If you consider all poetry and all lyrics you might find very little difference because both vary so much. Free verse poetry can be quite similar to spoken word lyrics, for example. But if you're comparing the lyrics of popular music to contemporary poetry, that's a different story.

In general, lyrics are more constrained than poetry in a multitude of ways. With lyrics, not only are you metrically, accentually, and rhythmically constrained, you're also topically constrained to a certain extent. There is a certain "expected" quality to pop lyrics that if deviated from can be alienating to the general audience. All of these "rules" are unwritten, but nevertheless important.

Poetry can be as free as you'd like. It's up to you to choose your style. Free verse is only limited by your own creativity, blank verse has rhythm but no rhyme, and sonnets, for example, are VERY structured and formal. Most young poets, around 10-13 years of age, will tend to write only rhyming poems in iambic tetrametre. This is what they feel poetry "is". As you age, your idea and view of what constitutes a poem naturally expands. Some poets find they like to be constrained, as it gives them a challenging motivation, while other poets like to write completely freely in a stream-of-consciousness style.

If you're going to turn a poem into a song, you might be presented with a number of challenges and alterations to be made. Firstly, you'll need to organize the stanzas into verse, chorus, and bridge sections. Usually the most powerful, unique, memorable or song-defining lyrics will make up the chorus. The refrain should have a catchy hook, not only melodically, but lyrically as well. This might mean repeating a line or a word.

You might find your diction is too flowery for a song, so you might be tempted to change some of your wording as well, but the majority of changes will be rhythmic and metrical. You want to make sure the stress pattern in your lyrics flows flawlessly. If you need a word with the stress on the second syllable, but your lyric has a word with the stress on the first, to avoid sounding unnatural, you'll have to replace the word. To be fair, some artists, such as Alanis Morissette, write with a disregard for stress and impose stress patterns onto the words rather than the other way around. For example her line; "I'm the MOST gor-GEOUS wo-MUNN that YOU'VE ever known", switches the natural stress on "gorgeous" and "woman". It's an idiosyncrasy of hers.

The main problem you'll face is line length. What you're looking for is not an equal amount of words, but an equal amount of syllables in each line. If your poem was already in iambic structure, you'll have no issues, but if it's free verse, you'll have a LOT to change. Unless you're going for a very unstructured song, which, with the right vocalist, you technically could pull off. It's a matter of "killing your babies" though, sometimes. You gotta choose the words that matter most to you, and sacrifice the words and ideas that don't contribute much to the song.

As for the other way around, technically lyrics already ARE poems, so there is no change needed. A "lyric" is a genre of rhythmic poetry that can be set to music, and modern song lyrics are an extension of that early genre.

If you have any specific questions, just ask. I'd be more than happy to songify any poem you want me to. I have experience doing this for some of my friends already.

if music and poetry can become each other, then essentially ur agreeging with no. Its the same, it just depends on how u present them. such as tone and rythm, i bet eminem could b poetry and robert frost could b lyrics if they just switched who read it.

By the way, I'm not asking you guys for an answer, I just want opinions. I personally think poems can be lyrics and lyrics can be poems

There is no line between the word, "them".

On topic: All art is perception. Lyrics are just really good (or really bad) poetry set to song.

I definitely think there's a difference. I'd venture to say a TON of song lyrics would just not make sense on paper, and not be 'good reads'. The music behind the lyrics, and the singers themselves lend so much to lyrics.

I guess what I'm saying is that poetry can stand alone while lyrics, for the most part, cannot.

I also think that the intent of the writer makes a huge difference. There's so many differing allowances for poetry and for lyrics.

I write both songs and poems and there is a difference although sometimes I can be writing a poem and it turns into a song and vice versa. There's a difference though but it's mainly in my headspace when I'm writing, like I just know what it's meant to be. Some of my songs could never be classed as poetry while I think others could.

I have read a lot of poetry in my time and I don't see much difference. Although I would say that setting something to music allows artists to be lazy or ignorant. If you read Morrissey's lyrics (as opposed to hearing them), it's obvious he has a poetic nature. No offence to, say, Tinchy Stryder but the following is just dogshit:

How you put females on a hot ........
Like im the one try me
theres me thinking im moving slyly
your friend was out there with both eyes on me
now i feel wrong cos you caught me
i can make it up to you trust me
if ya said no i would deal with that
im hoping youd take me back

Im sorry i misleaded you pretty lady
im sorry i mistreated you pretty lady
im sorry that i hurt you pretty lady
all i need to know is
can u take me back
can u take me back
can u take me back
can u take me back
can u take me back
can u take me back
can u take me back
can u take me back
Coz i cant live without Ya oh oh oh
Girl i cant live without ya oh oh oh oh!

I don't read much poetry but I listen to music often and I have noticed that all the lyrics of todays music are the same.

The two are very closely related. For example, rap is urban poetry; just like in every good poem, the two most important things in rap are rhythm and flow.
As for other styles of music, it's sometimes very hard to separate them. Laurie Anderson's O Superman is probably the best example of it.

Different names for the same thing.