You can talk about Across the railroad tracks — To me it's here On this side of the tracks. You can talk about Up in Harlem — To me it's here In Harlem. You can say Jazz on the South Side — To me it's hell On the South Side: Kitchenettes With no heat And garbage In the halls. Who're you, outsider? Ask me who am I.
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Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Visitors to the Black Belt" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Robert G. Patterson (b. 1957), "Visitors to the Black Belt", 2012 [ baritone and piano ], from American Pierrot: A Langston Hughes Songbook, no. 7, Great River Music, GRM-01037 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2015-08-29
Line count: 18
Word count: 67