Three Madam Songs

Song Cycle by Betty Roe (b. 1930)

1. Madam's Calling Cards  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
I had some cards printed
The other day.
They cost me more
Than I wanted to pay.
I told the man
I wasn't no mint
But I hankered to see
My name in print.
MADAM JOHNSON,
ALBERTA K.
He said, Your name looks good
Madam'd that way.
Shall I use Old English
Or a Roman letter?
I said, Use American.
American's better.
There's nothing foreign
to my pedigree:
Alberta K. Johnson --
American that's me.

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2. Madam and the Fortune Teller   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Fortune teller looked in my hand.
Fortune teller said,
Madam, It's just good luck
You ain't dead.

Fortune teller squeeze my hand.
She squinted up her eyes.
Fortune teller said,
Madam, you ain't wise.

I said, Please explain to me
What you mean by that?
She said, You must recognize
Where your fortune's at.

I said, Madam, tell me --
for she was Madam, too --
Where is my fortune at?
I'll pay some mind to you.

She said, Your fortune, honey,
Lies right in yourself.
You ain't gonna find it
On nobody else's shelf.

I said, What man you're talking 'bout?
She said, Madam! Be calm --
For one more dollar and a half,
I'll read your other palm.

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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

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3. Madam and her Might‑Have‑Been
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
I had two husbands.
I could have had three -
But my Might-have-been
Was too good for me.

When you grow up the hard way
Sometimes you don't know
What's too good to be true,
Just might be so.

He worked all the time,
Spend his money on me -
First time in my life
I had anything free.

I said, Do you love me?
Or am I mistaken?
You're always giving
And never taking.

He said, Madam, I swear
All I want is you.
Right then and there
I knowed we was through!

I told him, Jackson,
You better leave -
You got some'n else
Up your sleeve:

When you think you got bread
It's always a stone -
Nobody loves nobody
For yourself alone.

He said, In me
You've got no trust.
I said, I don't want
My heart to bust.

Text Authorship:

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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Total word count: 331