1946


Lonesome Man

Composed by Paul Bowles

Blue Mountain Ballads Song Collection


“Lonesome Man” is the second song in the cycle Blue Mountain Ballads. Ragtime rhythms in the accompaniment provide a perfect foundation.

Audio

“Lonesome Man” (from “Blue Mountain Ballads”)
Thomas Hampson (baritone) & Wolfram Rieger (piano)1:21

Paul Bowles

Composer

Tennessee Williams

Poet(s)/Writer(s)

2001

Date

Salzburg Festival

Location

Text

Lonesome Man
by Tennessee Williams

My chair rock-rocks by the door all day
But nobody ever stops my way,
Nobody ever stops by my way.

My teef chaw-chaw on an old ham bone an’
I do the dishes all alone,
I do the dishes all by my lone.

My feet clop-clop on the hardwood floor ‘cause
I won’t buy love at the hardware store,
I don’t want love from the mercantile store.

Now the clock tick-tocks by my single bed while
the moon looks down on my sleepless head,
While the moon grins down at an ole fool’s head.

Sheet Music