Song For a Dark Girl

German composer Hermann Reutter's "Song For a Dark Girl" (or "Lied für ein dunkles Mädchen" in German) sets a poem of Langston Hughes. This song is the fourth song in Reutter's song cycle My Dark Hands (Meine Dunklen Hände) and can be sung in either German or the original English.

Date: 1957Composer: Hermann ReutterText: Langston HughesSong Collection: My Dark Hands

Print vitals & song text

Text

Song For a Dark Girl
by Langston Hughes

Way Down South in Dixie
(Break the heart of me)
They hung my black young lover
To a cross roads tree.

Way Down South in Dixie
(Bruised body high in air)
I asked the white Lord Jesus
What was the use of prayer.

Way Down South in Dixie
(Break the heart of me)
Love is a naked shadow
On a gnarled and naked tree.

Related Information

The Hampsong Foundation

"Song For a Dark Girl" German Translation

hampsongfoundation.org

Audio

Track:

    Sheet Music

    Song for a Dark Girl

    Composer(s): Hermann Reutter

    Buy via Schott Music

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