Oscar Brown, Jr.’s poem in tribute to, and set to the music of Scott Joplin
Were there any who cared or cried
The day the ragtime piano man died?
Were there any who sobbed and sighed?
As they carted him on his final ride
Was there much of a damn they gave?
About this talented son of a slave
When the brother passed on
Another colored man gone
Without a marker to put on his grave
Where there any who truly knew
What made the black entertainer so blue
The depression he fell into
Over dreams that were never coming true
Was there much of a damn they gave
About this talented son of a slave
When the brother passed on
Another colored man gone
Without a marker to put on his grave
He played his ragtime tunes
In honky-tonk saloons
Piano music that the public loved to hear
Its syncopated beat
Got them to tapping their feet
Made all their cares and troubles disappear
He had such happy sounds
That as he made the rounds
The Entertainer finally saw his talent pay
Therefore a little while
Chile’ he was living in style
Making the music of the day
Out of his ragtime themes
He built ambitious dreams
In which his music turned to opera on the stage
A mighty work of art
He felt with all his heart
Ragtime music was the classic of his age
But then a change of taste
Laid all his dreams to waste
The fickle public found itself another craze
Therefore a little bit
He was a pretty big hit
But it was just a passing phase
Where there any who felt the pain
That drove the black entertainer insane
The frustration that racked his brain
Just to think “all that work had been in vain”
Was there much of a damn they gave
About this talented son of a slave
When the brother passed on another nigger just gone
Without a marker to put on his grave
Born ahead of his time
Died while yet in his prime
From a chronic condition
Caused by the lack of recognition
Born ahead of his time
Died while yet in his prime
Beaten by an ambition
For which he couldn’t raise a dime.
Born ….in 1868
Died…. In 1917
Scott Joplin, whose music won an academy award
56 years after he was laid in an unmarked grave.
Ahead of his time
While yet in his prime
Beaten by an ambition
For which he couldn’t raise a dime
Where were all the mans (he was an entertainer)
Multitude of fans (oh what an entertainer)
Those who clapped their hands
To hear the entertainer play the ragtime dance
Tell me where were they? (he was an entertainer)
When he passed away (oh what an entertainer)
There for a bit, he was really a hit
But it was ….. what can I say?
(This song is used in the score of OBJ’s musical about Scott Joplin, called Maple Leaf)
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