Independent Lens

Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story (4x2)

Air date: Feb 11, 2003

This program looks at the strange underworld of the song-poem industry. In this little-known subculture, "ordinary" people respond to come-on ads in the back pages of magazines ("Send in Your Lyrics -- Make $50,000 in Royalties!"), mailing in their heartfelt but often bizarre poems to music industry companies that, for cash, set those poems to music.