#AmericanWriters
Gather quickly Out of darkness All the songs you know And throw them at the sun Before they melt
Landlord, landlord, My roof has sprung a leak. Don’t you 'member I told you abou… Way last week? Landlord, landlord,
To fling my arms wide In some place of the sun, To whirl and to dance Till the white day is done. Then rest at cool evening
I look at the world From awakening eyes in a black fac… And this is what I see: This fenced—off narrow space Assigned to me.
2 and 2 are 4. 4 and 4 are 8. But what would happen If the last 4 was late? And how would it be
I got to leave this town. It’s a lonesome place. Got to leave this town cause It’s a lonesome place. A po’, po’ boy can’t
Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow… I heard a Negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other ni… By the pale dull pallor of an old…
Because my mouth Is wide with laughter And my throat Is deep with song, You do not think
I know I am The Negro Problem Being wined and dined, Answering the usual questions That come to white mind
I went down to the river, I set down on the bank. I tried to think but couldn’t, So I jumped in and sank. I came up once and hollered!
Remember The days of bondage— And remembering— Do not stand still. Go to the highest hill
You say I O.K.ed LONG DISTANCE? O.K.ed it when? My goodness, Central That was then!
Goin’ down the road, Lawd, Goin’ down the road. Down the road, Lawd, Way, way down the road. Got to find somebody
He glides so swiftly Back into the grass— Gives me the courtesy of road To let me pass, That I am half ashamed
Tell all my mourners To mourn in red — Cause there ain’t no sense In my bein’ dead.