Some songs sound as though the words were fit into the tune like square
pegs in round holes. Then you find a song like America, the Beautiful, where
the lady who wrote it on Pike's Peak never met the composer who set it later
and in my opinion, perfectly.

I think there is a tendency toward verbosity in songwriting today. The images
are either not focussed in the intention of the song or the words overshadow
the basic idea of the song. The songwriters of the past in the popular field had
a sense of conversation, imagery, and economy in writing so that the words could
blend into the music in a seemingly natural way. Much of todays singer/songwriter
output seems forced and have not been allowed to gestate enough in the editing process.
The result is that the songs are not widely sung.

Poems tend not to be conversational and require exalted language to express ideas.
Durable songs seem to require less exalted ideas and words that when read may
seem almost mundane but when sung take on a new meaning. The music enhances
the idea that's formed in the mind of the listener by highlighting the words. If one was to just read "This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York Island" it would seem prosaic. Set to that tune, the idea (almost hymnal) jumps out at
you and the words take on a luster. Poems therefore are not lyrics. A lyric must amplify the tune and the other way 'round.

Sometimes a song is a poetic chant but not a durable song. In years from now, it will not have been retained or will have gone through changes by others to give it a new life.
Wildwood Flower for example although I think that the Maude Irving version as originally written is a good song, it needed A.P. Carter to mess with it for folks to pick it up. The conversational language here is a factor. Accessibility is a key ingredient when fitting words to music.

Frank Hamilton