Pop Sonnets: Shakespearean Spins on Your Favorite Songs

Sonnets are hard work. The rhyme scheme, the meter, the high level of quality to live up to… they’re daunting endeavors to say the least. So imagine writing sonnets based on pop hits and you’ve got to have some serious respect for the writing chops of Erik Didriksen. Pop Sonnets is an impressive addition to the growing genre of “adapt such-and-such in a Shakespearean fashion.”

Whether it’s his decidedly scholarly version of Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World” or his inquisitive take on The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ “The Impression That I Get,” Didriksen does more than try to evoke the song’s most famous lines or major themes, he adds his own twist to each song. (For instance, his version of “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-a-Lot is weirdly dignified.)

Heck, he even improves on some songs! He managed to make something marvelous out of the banal “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something, taking the premise of the song moreso than the lyrics to create an ode to meaningful connection.

Pop Sonnets is a fun read for anyone who loves words, Shakespeare, or clever takes on pop culture.