Tears for Water

by Alicia Keys

From acclaimed musician Alicia Keys, author of the memoir More Myself , comes a revealing songbook of collected poems and lyrics that document her growth as a person, a woman, and an artist.

“All my life, I’ve written these words with no thought or intention of sharing them. Not even with my confidants. These are my most delicate thoughts. The ones that I wrote down just so I could understand what in the world these things I was thinking meant...” 

When she burst onto the music scene with her multi-million bestselling, Grammy® Award-winning first album, Songs in A Minor , Alicia Keys became a superstar. Two decades later, her career has expanded into producing, acting, and passionate activism—winning her worldwide acclaim, numerous awards, and a spot on Time ’s list of “The 100 Most Influential People.”

Though Alicia has been very vocal through her career, there were always “delicate thoughts” that she never before imagined she’d share with anyone else—until now. In Tears for Water , Alicia Keys opens the journals and notebooks that she has kept throughout her life and reveals her heart to her fans in return for all the love they have shown to her and her music.

Hello morning
now I see you
cause I am awake
What was once so sweet and secure
has turned out to be fake
Girl, you can’t be scared
gotta stand up tall and let ’em see what shines in you
Push aside the part
lying in your heart
like the ocean is deep, dark and blue

— from Golden Child

Genres: Poetry, Music, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Anthologies, Cultural

179 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Passionate about my work, in love with my family and dedicated to spreading light. It's contagious! ;-)

Reviews

[Danine · Rating 2 out of 5]

How do I put this? I love Alicia Keys. I love her music. She is a lovely and talented woman. A humanitarian and writes against how the media exploits women. She is an academy award winner several times over and she is musically talented and educated. This book, however, was an extreme disappointment to me. These poems and lyrics go well with her music but on paper they are trite, bland and anything but deep. I was writing poetry like this in seventh grade about by teenage crush, Roger Baldwin. Here is a stanza from "Is it Insane?"

Is it insane?
Thought you'd be my king
I'd be your queen
it would be complete with a wedding ring
was that just me imagining?

Wha? You see what I mean? The only "hard" words in this book were 'evolution' and 'purgatory.' I will continue to buy her music but it's painful to read these cliche rhyming lyrics without the music.

[Desiree G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far I am really starting to like this book. It's about her life I guess and all the struggles she has had to face. Every day I will read at least one of her poems, in class at home any wear.I really see my self as a reader improving on a lot of things. But one thing that really sticks out to me is that I see my self caring more for story's and poems (such as the poems I am reading with my class and in this book I'm reading alone)and other things like that. Even if it's fiction or non- fiction. And I hope I get to read more book's such as this one, I really like it. And I'm glad Alisha Keys decided to write these poems and share them with people like me!

[Arda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is beautiful, just like Alicia Keys is beautiful.

"Girl, you be smart
look in your heart and see what shines in you
Push aside the part
lying in your heart
like the ocean is deep, dark and blue
You are a golden child."

This, as she comments on this poem, Alicia says, was the turning point. "I was forced to believe in myself and not in what others thought of me. It was one of the hardest lessons I've ever gone through, and it changed my life forever."

What was so moving for me was how personal and vulnerable Alicia allows herself to be. She exposes her brokenness, self-doubt, and internal demons. In that sense she is brave, and in that sense she shows her power.

Not all the poems were *as* moving but that's ok because as she says, this is not for critique but rather to share parts of her personal self. The second part of the book is basically made up of lyrics to some of her songs.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a happy accidental find. I was scanning the shelves at the library and stumbled across this one. It was an easy read, and i enjoyed getting to see into the heart of Alica Keys.
Celebrities always seem to be these larger than life figures, but when you strip all that away they are just as human as the next person.
Being vulnerable is not easy and I appreciated her willingness to let people into her world through this book of poems and lyrics.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is really great. it has poems that she wrote about her own feelings. i like the one called beckoning green beacause thres a part that says beckoning green
come to me you wisper
roll in me,play in me
be free.
i feel like that little part means alot. and her poems kinda gives you lessons or it shows that even though she is famous she feels the same way we do.

[Urvi Shah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an ideal read for a day you feel like sitting by the window seal on a rainy day. Definitely perfect for a day in Vancouver or a train ride.

The book is an easy read and only takes half an hour. Simply love "Golden Child".

Enjoy the read!

[Suzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Half poems, half song lyrics. While I did like one or two poems, I didn't really connect with the book as a whole. In a few months, I will remember absolutely nothing about this book because it made no impact on me.

[Joalby Phoenix]

Dear Alicia Keys,
I read your book. You don't get to throw together random phrases and pass it off as poetry. That's not how it works. Worst poetry compilation ever.

Joalby

[Winter Sophia Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational, Deep & Soulful Poetry!

[Nikky3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly read the whole thing more because it reminded me of what I wrote as a teen and less cause it was good poems. But overall it was not bad.

[Marlin Jenkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alicia Keys is a brilliant musician and singer/songwriter. (As I Am is one of my favorite albums, and The Diary of Alicia Keys is also wonderful and memorable.) But this is a brilliance that doesn't quite transfer well to poetry. While I appreciated getting to read some of the thoughts and inspirations that went into the work, and it's super cool to have the lyrics from her first two albums in print, the poetry that comprises the first/major part of this book feels like poems from a high school girl's journal. The themes are common and expected: coming of age, belonging, heartbreak, and learning to love oneself. And these themes in themselves are not bad ones to write on, but the poems lack craft: they're trite with expected/easy rhymes and no exploration or insight into the themes.

This collection possesses power for young people--especially young women struggling with how to express themselves, love themselves, and understand the world around them in a way that allows them to build and retain integrity. Therefore, I'd recommend this book to teenage poets, or maybe to readers looking for very accessible poetry and/or hardcore Alicia Keys fans. Sadly, the reach of this collection doesn't really extend far past those demographics, and the brilliance of Keys' music absolutely eclipses the sub-par poetry in Tears for Water.

[Angela Auten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tears for Water: Songbook of Poems and Lyrics Review

Book Rating: 5 stars out of 5.

I'm not a big poetry fan, but I do like Alicia Keys a lot. So I read the book. Her poetry was very deep. Sometimes feelings can really cut you to the core. I was able to feel something when I was reading this. I also liked that she used her lyrics to some of her popular songs in this book. While I was reading them in my head I was trying not to sing them. My favorite song by her has to be If I Ain't Got You. I also like that she explained why she wrote some of them.

I'm actually glad I read this book. This book inspired me to share some of my poems. I wrote a lot of poetry when I was in high school. I also wrote one in the middle of this year which is a rarity. Thank you, Alicia Keys for inspiring me to share some of my work. :)

[Jozef · Rating 2 out of 5]

After hearing Alicia Keys perform "POW" at a poetry slam, I decided to check this book out. POW is by far the best poem in the book, and definitely the deepest. The vast majority of the poems in the collection are cheesy love poems. A lot of the passages are meant to be sung. I have faith that they are beautiful when applied to music, but on the page they appear flat and mundane. Honestly, this collection disappointed me a little. However, if Ms. Keys decided to write a novel or autobiography, I would definitely be interested.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a collection of alicia keys' poems and lyrics from her first two studio albums (they were never printed in the liner notes). obviously, keys has talent, as evidenced by her popular (and also some never commercially-released) songs. for that alone, i would recommend this book to her fans.

the poems are also good, although in some cases you can see why they remained unpublished poems and did not become published songs. but still, keys' voice is unique and i enjoyed the book.

[DorieanJackson 2010 · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS BOOK IS ALRIGHT. I THINK ALICIA KEYS COULD HAVE PERSONALLY DONE BETTER. THE BOOK IS JUST A BOOK OF MOST OF HER SONGS AND POEMS THAT SHE HAS WRITTEN WHICH VERY FEW OF THEM I LIKE. BUT MAYBE I ONLY DON'T LIKE THEM BECAUSE I CAN'T RELATE.

SO THERE IS NOT MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THIS BOOK BUT I JUST WANTED TO SHOW EVERYONE THE POEM I REALLY ENJOYED.SO WHAT DO YOU THINK???

[Jenna Pasquayak]

i laernt that evan tho alcia keys is famous she has been thru alot like me ..if you really want to get to know me and a alicia read this book i realated to half the stuff in this book mostly all of it ..it was kinda wierd how to dirrent people can feel the same way..mayb we aint that different after all

[Alice De Deken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Normally I'm not very into poetry, but I really liked the themes that she used. I am a huge fan of Alicia Keys, so I think that this is the main reason why I liked it. I cannot judge about the poetry itself because I know nothing about poetry. I can only say that I liked reading some of her thoughts and that I think it is well-written.

[James Vang · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not fair to say "I didn't like this book." I think that it's very special for someone to share their personal thoughts with you. Alica Keys shared some of her poems and songs but more importantly she allowed us to see her heart.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't really into Alicia Keys until I read her poetry book. I think she is a very talented poet and lyricists. The book is amazing. Not only do it include some of her poetry, it also includes all the lyrics from her first two albums.

[Chary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A former student in Miami gave me this book upon his high school departure. It was a great insight for me into Keys' gifted mind. I developed an even better appreciation for her and her talent after going through her writings.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, personal poetry by the amazing Alicia keys. I enjoyed it. It was an extremely quick read but its poetry, so you can read one poem over and over and never grow tired. At least thats how I am.

[Angel Garlinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has poems and lyrics to songs that Alicia Keys wrote herself. It's a very good book especially if you like her as a singer and writer. She has a lot of her thoughts and feelings about the songs and poems she wrote so you can understand them.

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ordered this book because it said songbook of poems and lyrics. I was very disappointed to read the poems and lyrics without a music score. This book would have been much better had it included the sheet music to her lyrics.

[skyhigh-kin · Rating 3 out of 5]

not in favor of this book..but kind of great cause it kind of list of the lyrics of alicia's songs..one of my fav,though...

[Genebie · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant ARTIST. period.

[Ndari · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the poems

[Shequitta Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good. However, I found it weird that some of the poems were simply lyrics to her published songs. I was expecting all new, unreleased stuff.

[Jamillah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book of poems by AK. She is so deep and spritual in her writings. It also has the lyrics to come of her biggest hits.

[GaBBy]

i like her shes a good singer and real pretty

[GaBBy]

good