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by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)

Honky Tonk
 (Sung text for setting by G. Bachlund)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
It's a jazz affair, drum crashes and coronet razzes.
The trombone pony neighs and the tuba jackass snorts.
The banjo tickles and titters too awful.
The chippies talk about the funnies in the papers.
The cartoonists weep in their beer.
Shop riveters talk with their feet
To the feet of floozies under the tables.
A quartet of white hopes mourn with interspersed snickers:
"I got the blues.
I got the blues.
I got the blues."
And . . . as we said earlier:
The cartoonists weep in their beer.

Composition:

    Set to music by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Honky Tonk", 2009 [ medium voice and piano ]

Text Authorship:

  • by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967), "Honky Tonk in Cleveland, Ohio", appears in Smoke and Steel, first published 1920

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-08
Line count: 13
Word count: 89

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