Rhythm and the Raven Contest Lyrics

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…

Sound familiar? These are the opening words from Edgar Allan Poe’s classic poem, "The Raven." The poem was a “pop” sensation in Poe’s time - kids used to follow him down the street waving their arms like a bird.

Now we’re putting it to you, Project ED creators, to turn this classic into a rhythmic masterpiece worth of today’s pop charts.

Here’s your assignment:

Using verses from "The Raven" - recite, sing, or rap the poem in a rhythm that will make us want to hear it over and over again. You must follow these rules:

• Use the poem as is - no repetitions of words or lines, no invention of new words or lines; just make your flow work. We want you to stay true to Poe’s original rhyme and verse.
• Your recitation must contain, at a minimum, the first six verses of the poem in order as included below. You can stop there, or keep going. Pick stanzas from the rest of the poem as you wish, or do the whole thing!
• Make sure your video is appropriate (No profanity or violence, please!)
• Accompanying music must be either an original composition or from our approved music sources:
       • This list of free tracks on Free Music Archive
       • Incompetech
       • Public Domain Music

Remember - we’re focused on your flow and delivery. Perfectly produced music is not required; beatboxing and even drumming on your desk is acceptable.

And check out the Resources section for Raven-themed artwork you can include in your video

Good Luck!

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

Genius Annotation

Project ED has teamed up with Rap Genius and Poets.org to challenge creators across the US and Canada to create their own rhythmic masterpiece from Edgar Allan Poe’s classic poem, “The Raven”. Your challenge is to perform the first six verses of the poem to a beat that students everywhere will want to hear over and over again. Take a shot and you could win up to $1,500 and a chance to have your video showcased on Rap Genius.

In your video, you must:

  • Recite, sing, or rap the first six verses of the poem as is – no repetitions of words or lines, no invention of new words or lines.
  • Accompanying music must be either an original composition or from our approved music sources (included in the resources section). Remember – we’re focussed on your flow and delivery, so beatboxing and drumming on a desk are acceptable.
  • Make sure your video is appropriate (no violence or profanity).

Full rules and requirements here.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

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