Determine next song

[SoongNoonien]

Hi!
Is there a way to determine the next song to be played even when the response of currentsong is empty? I'm aware of the nextsong and nextsongid keywords in the response of status but they are not populated when currentsong is empty.
I also wondered why currentsong is empty when I clear and refill the queue and after a restart of mpd it returns exactly that what I'm am looking for, namely the song which gets played when I issue play. Is this behavior intended?

[MaxKellermann]

There is no current song if MPD was never asked to select one. Intended maybe - that word is too strong - let's say it's a natural implication of the design.

[SoongNoonien]

There is no current song if MPD was never asked to select one.

Is it possible to ask MPD to select one without starting playback?

Intended maybe - that word is too strong - let's say it's a natural implication of the design.

Why is it a natural implication of the design that MPD selects a current song on startup and not when the queue is refilled or finished?