All Right, I Confess:

To  the question "What have you done?" I have prepared an answer: three or four--maybe five or six--Perfect Songs (honestly, kids, actual songs), composed by, and written out by, me. Their being songs, in answer to the question of what, at best, I might do, both in their manner of composition and in their subject matter, is, and is intended to be, reflective of my  personal moral, ethical and esthetic philosophy; while at the same time, of course, being perfect songs. The problem with them is that they were written before my life was half over, and, other than to garner college degrees--which I have done--they have left me nothing to say in the latter half of my life.

My songs are in fact my musical settings, not of my own but of other peoples' poetry. In a sense they have written themselves. My purpose, apart from my own satisfaction, is to render their verses intelligible; and, being an American Transcendentalist, I strive for nothing less than their perfect comprehension, by those most critically demanding of music-listeners, French children--and yes, by their parents and grandparents. These kids are to be scared by my song about the wolf, and to feel just a little bit sorry for the greedy shepherdess in her song.