 The title of Song was based upon the same poem , by African @-@ American poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar , the basis of her first autobiography . Like Angelou 's other autobiographies , the book was greeted with both praise and disappointment , although reviews were generally positive . Reviewers praised Angelou for " the culmination of a unique autobiographical achievement " , while others criticized her for coming across as " smug " . The 2002 spoken @-@ word album by the same name , based on the book , received a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2003 . 
