Madam and the Wrong Visitor

"Madam and the Wrong Visitor" is the seventh and final song of Siegmeister's Madam To You cycle, which sets seven texts of Langston Hughes.

Date: 1964Composer: Elie SiegmeisterText: Langston HughesSong Collection: Madam To You

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Text

Madam and the Wrong Visitor
by Langston Hughes

A man knocked three times.
I never seen him before.
He said, Are you Madam?
I said, What’s the score?

He said, I reckon
You don’t know my name,
But I’ve come to call
On you just the same.

I stepped back
Like he had a charm.
He said, I really
Don’t mean no harm.

I’m just Old Death
And I thought I might
Pay you a visit
Before night.

He said, You’re Johnson–
Madam Alberta K.?
I said, Yes–but Alberta
Ain’t goin’ with you today!

No sooner had I told him
Than I awoke.
The doctor said, Madam,
Your fever’s broke–

Nurse, put her on a diet,
And buy her some chicken.
I said, Better buy two
Cause I’m still here kickin’!

–The Collected Poems of LangstonHughes, p. 308

Sheet Music

Madam To You

Composer(s): Elie Siegmeister

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