Bob Dylan once memorably said, when a journalist asked him if he considered himself primarily as a poet or a songwriter, "If I can sing it, it's a song. If I can't, it's a poem!" Coincidentally (or maybe not) Dylan is cited as a major influence by poet Tony Chapman, whose first collection this is.
Tony Chapman is a true polymath: poet, singer, songwriter, painter, sculptor, and performer, playing piano and guitar. Born and raised on the South coast of England, in the Sussex hills behind Brighton, he now lives in Amsterdam. In a long and prolific career, during which he has travelled through many lands (and many jobs) he has written countless poems and songs and created many images.
Of this, his first poetry collection, he says: "This book is a winding, hilly, magical ride through love, surrealism, Zen, social comment, personal growth, life, reflection, commiseration, and celebration". It is significant, therefore, that the image of the maze is often found in his writings and artworks: a reflection of life, (conscious and subconscious) in Amsterdam: cycling through the maze of canals and narrow streets, juggling his teaching, performing, exhibitions and writing in cafes, between the ever-changing paths.
As well as obvious influences; Frederico Lorca, Bob Dylan, and of course Dylan Thomas, there are other significant strands which can be discovered in Tony's work. More than a hint of Walt Whitman (another poet who regarded poems and songs as interchangeable) and also of the Beat Poets, whom Whitman influenced. You might also hear echoes of the 1960s idealism of MichaelHorowitz, in his Children of Albion phase, and of the Mersey Poets.
So, are these songs or poems? Well, there was once a time, of course, when all poems were songs and all songs were poems, when our distant ancestors gathered around the fire to hear stories, fables and tales of heroes such as Beowulf or Sir Gawain. Tony Chapman is simply the latest in a long line of lyre-wielding bards: a true troubadour for the twenty-first century.
