Sugar in the Cane

The cycle Blue Mountain Ballads closes with “Sugar in the Cane,” a blending of ragtime and the flatted thirds characteristic of the blues, which perfectly supports the idiomatic text of sexual innuendo.

Date: 1946Composer: Paul BowlesText: Tennessee WilliamsSong Collection: Blue Mountain Ballads

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    Sugar in the Cane
    by Tennessee Williams

    I’m red pepper in a shaker,
    Bread that’s waitin’ for the baker.
    I’m sweet sugar in the cane,
    Never touched except by rain.
    If you touched me God save you,
    These summer days are hot and blue.
    I’m potatoes not yet mashed,
    I’m a check that ain’t been cashed.
    I’m a window with a blind,
    Can’t see what goes on behind.
    If you did, God save your soul!
    These winter nights are blue and cold!

    Related Information

    Sheet Music

    Blue Mountain Ballads

    Composer(s): Paul Bowles

    Song(s): 1. Heavenly Grass
    2. Lonesome Man
    3. Cabin
    4. Sugar in the Cane

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