Play the blues for me. Play the blues for me. No other music 'Ll ease my misery. Sing a soothin' song. Said a soothing song, Cause the man I love's done Done me wrong. Can't you understand, O, understand A good woman's cryin' For a no-good man? Black gal like me, Black gal like me 'S got to hear a blues For her misery.
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Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Misery", appears in Fine Clothes to the Jew, first published 1927 [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 John Alden Carpenter (1876 - 1951), "That soothin' song", published 1927 [ medium voice and piano ], from Four Negro Songs, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Wilhelm Grosz (1894 - 1939), "Misery", from Africa Songs [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anna Siemsen ; composed by Alexander Zemlinsky.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 64