by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)
My shirt is a token and symbol
Language: English
My shirt is a token and symbol, more than a cover for sun and rain, my shirt is a signal, and a teller of souls. I can take off my shirt and tear it, and so make a ripping razzly noise, and the people will say, "Look at him tear his shirt." I can keep my shirt on. I can stick around and sing like a little bird and look'em all in the eye and never be fazed. I can keep my shirt on.
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Text Authorship:
- by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967), "Shirt", appears in Smoke and Steel, first published 1920 [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 Edith M. Lang , "My Shirt, Song for a Sailor", published 1946 [ TTBB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-07-07
Line count: 12
Word count: 84