Poetry Of The Deed

Album: Poetry Of The Deed (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the second single and title track of London-based singer-songwriter Frank Turner's third studio album.
  • Turner told The Express Night Out the message behind this song: "[Anarchist philosopher Mikhail] Bakunin had this idea about 'propaganda of the deed,' and not writing pamphlets and actually doing things with your life, and I wanted to say something similar about poetry and reading Kerouac books and going out and being the sequel. It's about the fact that I'm a firm believer that life is what you make of it, and that you can seize life by the horns. There was an amazing thing in the London Underground where they occasionally have some advertiser's space where public art goes up sometimes, and they had this really trippy piece of multi-colored backing that had in the middle, 'If you don't like your life, you can change it.'
    I always thought that was excellent, and I really enjoyed being part of the commuters bow and traveling around London seeing this excellent statement on the walls, so that was part of the inspiration for it. There are limitations to that, who your parents might be, or whatever, but generally speaking what riles me is people complaining about facets of their life they could change if they were just prepared to put in the hard work and have the courage to do it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in Songs

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in SongsSong Writing

Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80s

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80sSongwriter Interviews

'80s music ambassadors Wang Chung pick their top tracks of the decade, explaining what makes each one so special.

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.

Philip Cody

Philip CodySongwriter Interviews

A talented lyricist, Philip helped revive Neil Sedaka's career with the words to "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood."