THE ENTERTAINER
(Scott Joplin / Oscar Brown Jr.)

Oscar Brown Jr. - 1995



Were there any who cared a cuss
The day the ragtime piano man died
Were there many 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, anotrher coloured man gone
Without a marker to put on his grave

Were there any who truly knew
What made the black entertainer so blue
The depression he fell into
Over dreams that were never comin' true

Was there much of a damn they gave
About this talented son of a slave
When the brother passed on, anotrher coloured 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 tappin' their feet
Made all their cares and troubles disappear

He had such happy sounds that as he made the rounds
The entertainer fin'ly saw his talent pay
There for a little while he was livin' in style
Makin' 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 its age

But then a change of taste laid all his dreams to waste
The fickle punblic found itself another craze
There for a little bit he was a pretty big hit
But it was just a passin' phase

Were there any that felt the pain
That drove the black entertainer insane
A 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, anotrher 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 eighteen-sixty-eight, died in nineteen-seventeen
Scott Joplin, whose music won a Motion Picture Academy Award
Fifty-six years after he was layed in an unmarked grave
Ahead of his time, died 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, 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 while he was livin' in style
Makin' the music of the day

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



(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - August 2006)