The Great Depression was a time society had taken a big hit, it brought pain, and drought to many working civilians and people all around the United States. The Great Depression was the worst thing that has ever happened to the American Economy and it lasted the longest, from 1929 to 1941. When the Great Depression reached its absolute bottom, approximately fifteen million Americans were jobless and a large portion of the nation's banks had been declining. The song “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” by E.Y. “Yip” Harburg emphasizes the pain and struggle much of the American population had to face during the Great Depression.
The Great Depression caused many drastic changes to society financially and it impacted many Americans. People were losing their jobs and business were starting to decline. In 1932 fourth of the people were jobless and more than fifty percent of the national income had gone down until 1933 (Jeffries). Many banks during the Great Depression went bankrupt and had to close down. A huge reason that this happened was that so many people took out loans. They would take loans and they would put them in the stock market but because the stock market went down drastically, people lost all of their money. “Because so many farmers were in debt, small country banks experienced growing difficulties by the late 1920s as their customers defaulted on loans. Many businesses were in debt too.”(Jeffries). When people would go back to the bank to take the money they put in, the banks didn’t have their money because they loaned it to other customers.
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So many people during this time period went days, weeks, months, and even some people years without a job. Since there were so many jobless people, companies took advantage of that and dropped the wages. People would still work for them even though the wages were extremely low because they had no other choice but to work if they wanted to survive. “As unemployment rates climbed, wages dropped .”(Lange). People were desperate for jobs and would wait in long lines hoping that the work needed to be done so they could get paid. Even though people waited in these long lines, it didn’t guarantee that they would be needed and that they would get paid.“...In cities, hundreds would line up for jobs in factories or on the docks, where only a handful of workers were needed .”(Lange). They didn’t have much choice because due to so many companies going down, there weren’t many jobs available. “The average family income of the bottom forty percent was just $725, a subsistence level or worse.”(Jeffries). Many families were having trouble making money and the money that they made wasn’t enough most of the time.
'Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?' was written by lyric writer Yip Harburg. Yip Harburg was born on April 8, 1896, in New York City in Manhattan’s Lower East Side (“Harburg, Edgar Yipsel”). His birth name was originally Isadore Hochberg but in 1934 he legally changed it to E. Y. Harburg (“Harburg, Edgar Yipsel”). Harburg was the youngest of four children raised by Lewis Hochberg and Mary Ricing, both immigrants from Russia (“Harburg, Edgar Yipsel”). Harburg got married twice, he first married Alice Richmond in 1923 on February twenty-third. Alice and Harburg had one child, Ernie Harburg. Alice and Yip’s marriage only lasted six years, from 1923 to 1929. He got married for the second time but this time to Edelaine Roden, they had no children together (“Harburg, Edgar Yipsel”). “Nearing his eighty-fifth birthday, Harburg was driving alone on Sunset Boulevard in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles when he suffered a massive heart attack and died instantly...”(“Harburg, Edgar Yipsel”). Harburg died on March fifth, 1981 from a massive heart attack.
The Great Depression was mainly the reason why Yip Harburg started to lyric write. “In 1929, when the stock market crash undermined the economy, he turned to lyric writing, because, as he said, ‘I [had] had my fill of this dreamy abstract thing called business, and I decided to face reality and write lyrics.’(“Harburg, Edgar Yipsel”). The stock market crash motivated him to start writing so he could face the reality of the real world. Harburg attended Townsend Harris High School and that is “where he met his lifelong friend and greatest influence, the lyricist Ira Gershwin” (“Harburg, Edgar Yipsel”).” The famous song 'Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?,' was written by Jay Gorney and Yip Harburg to a song to emphasize the struggles the Americans were going through during these hard times.
In the first stanza of the song 'Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?,' he thought that he was doing something good and helpful for America. The opening line of the song was 'They used to tell me I was building a dream,' (“Brother, Can You”). What he means by this is that the people told them in the beginning that they were making a ‘dream’ for the United States but he later realized that they were just being overused to build stuff so the people could make money off of. The song then continued with “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?” (“Brother, Can You”). What he was trying to say was that when they needed him, he was always there for them but now that he needs them they are nowhere to be found. He feels that after all he’s done he shouldn’t have to be in line waiting for food to be served to him After reading the first stanza you can summarize that he is angry with the people and he feels like he deserves more because when they needed him he was there for them but now that he needs them, they are not there for him.
In the second stanza, Harburg is frustrated that after all the work that he did he wasn’t treated a better way. He explains what he did for them in the second stanza “Once I built a railroad, I 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, up to the sun, brick, rivet, and lime; Once I built a tower, now it’s done. Brother, can you spare a dime?” (“Brother, Can You”). He is saying that he built railroad tracks for the trains to run on and made it work. He also built a very tall tower and now that he is done, can you please give him some money? “In the past, he says, he has built a railroad and fought bravely in war, but now he is outraged to find that he must beg for a dime.” (Furia). He is upset that he did so much and that they didn’t give him money instead he has to beg them for money.
In the final and closing stanzas, he is referring to his days when he was in the military. In the third stanza, thousands of people were going through a hard time to help build things. “Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell, Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum, Half a million boots went slogging through Hell, And I was the kid with the drum!”(“Brother, Can You”). When he was in the military, they would wear ‘khaki suits’ and look good with a feeling of strong Patriotism. There were thousands of people who were going through a rough time. Towards the end of the song, he became repetitive. “Say, don’t you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time. Why don’t you remember, I’m your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?” (“Brother, Can You”). He uses ‘buddy’ instead of ‘brother’ to refer to a fellow soldier from when he was in the military. He says don’t you remember me, they used to call me ‘Al’ when we were together.
Even though the Great Depression was a very difficult time for millions of people, Harburg made something good out of it. Radio stations banned playing the song because it was a ‘negative’ song. Other singers helped make the song get more publicity even though radio stations refused to play the song. “...a month before the presidential election, reviewers singled out 'Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?' for praise, and recordings by Bing Crosby and other singers made it a hit despite the fact that some radio stations downplayed or even banned the song.”(Furia). Republicans didn’t want the song to be played because they thought it was a bad look for America. “It was considered by Republicans to be anti-capitalist propaganda, and almost dropped from the show; attempts were also made to ban the song from the radio.” (“Harburg, Edgar Yipsel”).
Lyric writer E.Y. “Yip” Harburg wrote the song “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” “to symbolize the hopelessness and indignity many Americans felt in the face of unemployment and severe economic hardship.”(Noble). Banks started to become in debt because people would take out loans and then stock markets. Thousands of people were jobless and couldn’t provide much for their families. Yip Harburg was born in Manhattan in 1896 and was the youngest of four. He got married twice and had two children. Harburg started to lyric write during the Great Depression, Ira Gershwin was his biggest influence in writing. He wrote the song “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” in 1931 alongside with Jay Gorney. “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” became a big hit with the help of other songwriters sharing it with their fan base despite some radio stations banning the song from being played. After analyzing the song “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime” we can presume that the Great Depression was the reason that this song was written? The Great Depression was actually a good thing that happened to Harburg because it was the reason he started to write and if it never happened, he probably would not have never impacted so many people the way that he did.
Works Cited
- “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime’ – 1932.” Social Welfare History Project, 9 Jan. 2019, socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/great-depression/brother-can-you-spare-a-dime-1932/.
- Furia, Philip. 'Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?' Encyclopedia of the Great Depression, edited by Robert S. McElvaine, vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2004, p. 121. Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3404500083/GVRL?u=ppjsh_ca&sid=GVRL&xid=9d7d73db. Accessed 14 Mar. 2019.
- 'Harburg, Edgar Yipsel (“Yip”).' The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, et al., vol. 1: 1981-1985, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998, pp. 364-366. Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX2874400202/GVRL?u=ppjsh_ca&sid=GVRL&xid=738d8920. Accessed 14 Mar. 2019.
- Jeffries, John W. “Great Depression.” The Great Depression and World War II, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2017. History, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=105958&itemid=WE52&articleId=193904. Accessed 12 Mar. 2019.
- Lange, Brenda. “The Early Years of the Great Depression.” The Stock Market Crash of 1929, Updated Edition, Chelsea House, 2017. History, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=105958&itemid=WE52&articleId=358450. Accessed 14 Mar. 2019.
- Noble, Natoma N. 'Music.' Encyclopedia of the Great Depression, edited by Robert S.
- McElvaine, vol. 2, Macmillan Reference USA, 2004, pp. 660-665. Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3404500375/GVRL?u=ppjsh_ca&sid=GVRL&xid=9b6585eb. Accessed 14 Mar. 2019.
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