Songs of the Great Depression
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Songs of the Great Depression Originally entitled Yankee Doodle, this is one of several versions of a scene painted by Archibald MacNeal Willard in the late nineteenth century that came to be known as The Spirit of '76. Often imitated or parodied, it is one of the most famous images relating to the American Revolutionary War. The life-sized original hangs in Abbot Hall in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The flag in the painting, often assumed to be the Betsy Ross flag, is actually the Cowpens flag, flown during a major turning point in the war, the Battle of Cowpens. BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? E. Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg & Jay Gorney Introduced in 1932 by Rex Weber in the musical revue Americana VERSE They used to tell me I was building a dream, And so I followed the mob. When there was earth to plow, Or guns to bear, I was always there Right on the job. They used to tell me I was building a dream, With peace and glory ahead, Why should I be standing in line, Just waiting for bread? REFRAIN Once I built a railroad, Made it run, Made it race against time. Once I built a railroad, Now it's done, Brother, can you spare a dime? Once I built a tower, To the sun, Brick and rivet and lime; Once I built a tower, Now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime? Once in khaki suits, Gee we looked swell, Full of that Yankee Doodle-de-dum, Half a million boots went sloggin’ through hell, I was the kid with the drum. Say, don't you remember? They called me “Al,” It was “Al” all the time. Say, don't you remember I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime? “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”, also sung as “Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?”, is one of the best-known American songs of the Great Depression. Written in 1930 by lyricist E. Y. “Yip” Harburg and composer Jay Gorney, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” was part of the 1932 musical Americana; the melody is based on a Russian-Jewish lullaby Gorney's mother had sung to him as a child. It was considered by Republicans to be anti-capitalist propaganda, and almost dropped from the show; attempts were made to ban it from the radio. The song became best known, however, through recordings by Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee. Both versions were released right before Franklin Delano Roosevelt's election to the presidency and both became number one hits on the charts. The Brunswick Crosby recording became the best-selling record of its period, and came to be viewed as an anthem of the shattered dreams of the era. In the song a beggar talks back to the system that stole his job. Gorney said in an interview in 1974 “I didn't want a song to depress people. I wanted to write a song to make people think. It isn’t a hand-me-out song of ‘give me a dime, I’m starving, I’m bitter’, it wasn't that kind of sentimentality”. The song asks why the men who built the nation – built the railroads, built the skyscrapers – who fought in the war (World War I), who tilled the earth, who did what their nation asked of them should, now that the work is done and their labor no longer necessary, find themselves abandoned and in bread lines. It refers to “Yankee Doodle-de-dum”, a reference to patriotism, and the evocation of veterans also recalls protests about military bonuses payable only after 21 years, which were a topical issue. The song has unusual structure for a Broadway song. Firstly, rather than starting in a major key, as most Broadway songs do, it begins in a minor key, which is darker and more appropriate for the Depression. When discussing the prosperous past and building the railroads, the song jumps an octave and moves briefly into a major key, evoking energy and optimism. It then reverts to the augmented dominant of the minor key in the word “time” in the line “Once I built a railroad, made it run / Made it race against time,” marking the end of prosperous times, and changing to a wistful mood. The song then ends, not on a note of resignation, but with anger – repeating the beginning (as is usual for Broadway songs), an octave higher, but with a significant change: the friendly “Brother, can you spare a dime?” is replaced with the aggressive “Buddy, can you spare a dime?” . During the malaise of the 1970s stagflation, the New York Times asked Harburg to update "Brother" for a new age, and he responded with: Once we had a Roosevelt Praise the Lord! Life had meaning and hope. Now we’re stuck with Nixon, Agnew, Ford, Brother, can you spare a rope? From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother,_Can_You_Spare_a_Dime%3F * * * From Philip Furia, The Poets of Tin Pan Alley. A History of America’s Great Lyricists (Oxford, New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992) pp. 204-205: In “Brother Can You Spare a Dime?,” Harburg, deeply political himself, took Roosevelt’s campaign image of the “Forgotten Man” and created a dramatic monologue rooted in character: The fellow in the breadline, just back from the wars . a bewildered hero with a medal on his chest ignominiously dumped into a breadline. I wanted a song that would express his indignation over having worked hard in the system only to be discarded when the system had no use for him. Thus: “Once I built a railroad, made it run, made it race against time. .” He’s still feeling his strength, and bringing that strength into the song. But suddenly he looks at himself and stops short, puzzled: “How the hell did I get into this position, where I find myself saying, ‘Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?’”1 The monologue is framed by the catch-phrase title, transformed from a panhandler’s pathetic plea to a veiled threat. The bitterness is quietly planted at the opening of the chorus, as the singer recalls how “they used to tell me I was building a dream” and reminisces romantically about going off to war: the “Forgotten Man” and created a dramatic monologue rooted in character: Once in khaki suits, Gee we looked swell, Full of that Yankee Doodle-de-dum But the reminiscence quickly sours, as the “half a million boots” that jauntily march “Over There” go “sloggin’ thru Hell.” That image carries a further implication - that the same soldiers might now band together in a revolutionary protest, an implication that hangs fire between the powerful, active verbs that recount the past - “built a tower,” “made it run,” “went slogging through hell,” and the participles “standing” and “waiting” that uneasily mark time for the present. The suggestion of revolution grows stronger with the reference to “Yankee Doodle-de-dum” and the allusion to the “Spirit of ’76” - “I was the kid with the drum.” Such touches give the singer a mythic power as he dramatically steps closer to his “Brother”: Say don't you remember? they called me Al it was Al all the time. Say, don't you remember I'm your pal! The rhymes and near-rhymes - Al/all/pal - give this intimate identification an aggressive edge, capped in the last line when “brother” is suddenly replaced by the military - and militant - “Buddy, can you spare a dime?” 1 E. Y. Harburg, “From Lower East Side to ‘Over the Rainbow’” Creators and Disturbers, eds. Bernard Rosenberg and Ernest Goldstein (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1982) p. 146. Despite the political emphasis, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” has some of the lineaments of of a standard [Tin Pan] Alley love song. The plight of the ex-soldier, for example, parallels countless romantic laments where a jilted lover bemoans the girl that did him wrong. Harburg himself noted that what he wanted to avoid in this lyric was “sentimental, tear-jerking . maudlinity” - precisely what [great lyricists Lorenz] Hart and [Ira] Gershwin strove to avoid in their love songs. What Harburg used to avoid those pitfalls, however, was not flippant rhymes and witty word-play but a realistic portrayal of character and dramatic situation. * * * Recordings from 1932 Vallee, Crosby and Jolson were three of the most famous - and greatest - entertainers of the time. Rudy Vallee and His Connecticut Yankeess - Columbia 1932 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pjuqV9UEx0 SpareDimeVallee.jpg - Record label. Fox Trot Vocal Refrain. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (from “Americana”) (Gorney and Harburg) Rudy Valle and His Connecticut Yankeess. Columbia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb_Wqyx-EBA Bing Crosby with Lennie Hayton and his Orchestra - Brunswick 1932 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eih67rlGNhU bing-crosby-brother-can-you-spare-a-dime-columbia-78.jpg - Record label. “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” (Harburg & Gorney) Sung by Bing Crosby With Orchestra. Columbia. http://flashlarevista.com/content/can-you-spare-a.html Al Jolson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F4yT0KAMyo Charlie Palloy & His Orchestra, vocal by Charlie Palloy - Crown 1932 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsJGagKWrds Ian Whitcomb (a well known performer and music historian) writes: “Charlie Palloy is a real obscurity. Obviously he modeled his style on Russ Columbo, but all we know is that he played guitar, led a band for a while, and recorded for the short-lived Crown label. His careful pronunciation of an “s” borders on the sibilant.” Subsequent recordings include: - Peter, Paul & Mary - LP See What Tomorrow Brings 1965 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCnjUS4UZNI - Spanky & Our Gang (LP Spanky and Our Gang) 1967 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYwfTQPWQ1Y - Tom Jones - (LP I Who Have Nothing) 1970 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBavN5bF_fI - Judy Collins (LP Judith) 1975 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCtIEeO-NrY - Abbey Lincoln with Stan Getz (tenor sax), Hank Jones (piano), Charlie Haden (bass), Mark Johnson (drums), Maxine Roach (violin) - CD You Gotta Pay the Band 1991 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--VoDLuUh18 LIVE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKr69aqmQ6g - Tom Waits (CD Tales From The Underground 4) 1999 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZlFACk17R0 - The Masters Of Harmony 1996 LIVE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Hxft8_DpE - George Michael - (CD Songs from the Last Century) 1999 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keuyx-ROUA0 LIVE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_cZjgThPks LET’S HAVE ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE Irving Berlin Introduced in 1932 by J.