high voice, piano
From the theatrical and humorous song cycle, “Cowboy songs”, on texts by e e cummings.
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Program Note
“if you can’t eat” is the fifth movement of the six-movement song cycle “Cowboy Songs”, on texts by e e cummings. Individual movements may be performed separately.
Text
if you can’t eat you got to
smoke and we aint got nothing to smoke:
come on kid
let’s go to sleep
if you can’t smoke you got to
sing and we aint got nothing to sing
come on kid
let’s go to sleep
if you can’t sing you got to
die and we aint got nothing to die
come on kid
let’s go to sleep
if you can’t die you got to
dream and we aint got nothing to dream
(come on kid
let’s go to sleep)
Text by e e cummings