Duke occasionally wrote lyrics as well as music, especially if the work was meaningful to him. A Drum is a Woman was a musical program composed to be performed and acted out for U.S. Steel Hour in 1956 and was composed and written both by Ellington and Strayhorn. A Drum is a Woman was an allegory that traced the history of jazz, represented by the character Madame Zajj, from its African roots to its modern incarnation in America and beyond. Irving Townsend, who produced several records with Ellington, suggested that A Drum is a Woman numbers among the works of which Duke was most proud. This portion of the script is written in Ellington's handwriting. The composition is written on one 12.5" x 9.5" sheet. There are some small tears along both sides of the paper. On the reverse, Ellington has transcribed, in his beautiful looping cursive, a stanza from Billy Strayhorn's "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing," which had the working title "Passion."

Vertical and horizontal creases down and along center of document. Wrinkling, slight paper loss, and tearing along edges.