Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
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An Easy Goin' Feller - (2008)
Paul Laurence Dunbar
for baritone and piano
Ther' ain't no use in all this strife,
An' hurryin', pell-mell, right thro' life.
I don't believe in goin' too fast
To see what kind o' road you've passed.
It ain't no mortal kind o' good,
'N' I would n't hurry ef I could.
I like to jest go joggin' 'long,
To limber up my soul with song;
To stop awhile 'n' chat the men,
'N' drink some cider now an' then.
Do' want no boss a-standin' by
To see me work; I allus try
To do my dooty right straight up,
An' earn what fills my plate an' cup.
An' ez fur boss, I'll be my own,
I like to jest be let alone,
To plough my strip an' tend my bees,
An' do jest like I doggoned please.
My head's all right, an' my heart's meller,
But I'm a easy-goin' feller.[ 4 pages, circa 3' 20" ]
Paul Laurence Dunbar
For more information on Dunbar, please see my setting of his text, Theology.
The tessitura might lie somewhat high for a baritone (as the setting is also apt for tenor), but the singing of it should be easy, and even crooned. The slow tempo and loping 6/8 meter should seem slightly lethargic, certainly at ease, and the accompaniment should be muted and tranquil even in the small syncopations.
As bridge, some arpeggiated chords break the eighth note motor and imply a 3/4 meter underlying the duple of the vocal line.
The score for An Easy Goin' Feller is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano-vocal score.
