YOUR TASK :

• Listen to these examples of some of my favourite Spoken Word Songs. 
• Write down a few of your favourite words and phrases. Write down, or circle on the lyric-sheets, anything that stands out to you or feels special.  

Try thinking about these things: 

1. Listen for the ways that the artists tell a story in the songs. 
2. Do the stories which stick in our memories after we've listened? If yes, which bits are most memorable or ‘catchy?’ 
3. Is the story easy to imagine? Is the main character easy to imagine?

Loyle Carner - Dear Jean 

We can look at Dear Jean as a chilled-out rap song. Or we can look at it as an upbeat Spoken Word song. The song tells the story of the artist meeting a girl and preparing to move out of his Mum’s house - a pretty ordinary situation, from the outset, but loaded with emotions.

The song starts, ‘Dear Jean’, like a letter, an unusual beginning for a song. It immediately makes the listener pay attention. It also feels intimate and heartfelt. 

At the close of the same album, Carner's Mum records a Spoken Word Song called 'Dear Ben'. It is also written like a letter.