A Tune Inspired by A.E. Stallings
November 17, 2017
At our 2017/18 Poetry Series event with A.E. Stallings, folk songwriter Jaspar Lepak dazzled our ears with an original song as part of the Bushwick Book Club program — it’s on repeat at the SAL offices right now! Below, listen to Jaspar’s song, which asks, “Why should the Devil get all the good tunes?” and read the poem by Stallings that inspired her.
Triolet on a Line Apocryphally Attributed to Martin Luther By: A.E. Stallings
Why should the Devil get all the good tunes,
The booze and the neon and Saturday night,
The swaying in darkness, the lovers like spoons?
Why should the Devil get all the good tunes?
Does he hum them to while away sad afternoons
And the long, lonesome Sundays? Or sing them for spite?
Why should the Devil get all the good tunes,
The booze and the neon and Saturday night?
Originally published in Poetry, April 2005.
Thank you for your beautiful music, Jaspar, and thank you Bushwick! To hear more of Jaspar’s music, head to her website here.