There is music in me, the music of a peasant people. I wander through the levee, picking my banjo and singing my songs of the cabin and the field. At the Last Chance Saloon I am as welcome as the violets in March; there is always food and drink for me there, and the dimes of those who love honest music. Behind the railroad tracks the little children clap their hands and love me like they love Kris Kringle. But I fear that I am a failure. Last night a woman called me a troubadour. What is a troubadour?
Authorship:
- by Fenton Johnson (1888 - 1958), "The Banjo Player" [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 F. Baksa (b. 1938), "The Banjo Player", from Three Portraits, no. 1. [text not verified]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Paridam von dem Knesebeck) (Eva Hesse) , title 1: "Der Spielmann", from Mein dunklen Hände. Moderne Negerlyrik in Original und Nachdichtung, copyright ©
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2004-12-28
Line count: 13
Word count: 100
In mir ist Musik, die Musik eines Bauernvolkes [ ... ]
Confirmed with Mein dunklen Hände. Moderne Negerlyrik in Original und Nachdichtung, herausgegeben und übertragen von Eva Hesse und Paridam von dem Knesebeck, München: Nymphenburger Verlag, 1953, page 69.
Authorship:
- by Paridam von dem Knesebeck (c1911 - 2000), "Der Spielmann", appears in Mein dunklen Hände. Moderne Negerlyrik in Original und Nachdichtung, copyright © [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- by Eva Hesse (1925 - 2020), "Der Spielmann", appears in Mein dunklen Hände. Moderne Negerlyrik in Original und Nachdichtung, copyright © [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Fenton Johnson (1888 - 1958), "The Banjo Player"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
This text was added to the website: 2015-04-30
Line count: 13
Word count: 92