“Brother, Can You Spare a Dime”

1. “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime” By: Yip Harburg Caitlin Cumberland

2. 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? 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, 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

3. Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum, Half a million boots went slogging through Hell, And I was the kid with the drum! 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? 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! 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?

4. Citations

5. Yip Harburg(1896-1981) Born Edgar Yipsel Harburg in Manhattan's Lower East Side, Yip started writing songs as early as 1929. After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Yip and his good friend Ira Gershwin, were left high in debt. Insisting on paying it back, Yip and Ira turned to a different road for raising the money. Together, they began writing songs. After having gotten a chance to write songs for “Earl Carroll’s Sketchbook”, his talent was proven. Next, he began to write songs for the Broadway feature, Americana. For this show, he wrote “Brother Can You Spare A Dime”, which was performed by Jay Gorney. The song was to the tune of a childhood lullaby he was sung while living in Russia. It was inspired by his socialist beliefs and expressed how he felt about human rights and equality. Even though he started from poverty, amazingly his song became the national song of the depression of the time. One of his biggest accomplishments was creating the songs for The Wizard Of Oz. Over his lifetime, he had written an accomplishing 600 songs. He died on March 5, 1981 at the age of 84. Back

6. “So I followed the mob” Literary: This line is an example of a theme. A theme is the central idea of a story, song, poem, etc. This verse shows how every man had the same outlook on what was going to happen from this war, however their dreams were crushed. Back

7. “Why should I be standing in line” Historical: Once powerful men, who fought in wars and built the city from the ground up, were now reduced to waiting in soup and bread lines. Men of this time were embarrassed, but also dumbfounded. They were told that things would get better after the war, however they soon realized they were mistaken. Back

8. “Once I built a railroad” Literary: In this part of the song, the omniscient man is repeating over and over everything he had accomplished before. Looking back at these things, showed his once known strength, but now they do not mean anything. An anaphora is a repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of a line. Back

9. “Time,dime,lime,dime” Literary: “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, and rivet, and lime; Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?” This is an example of rhyme scheme. In this particular song, the pattern is AAAA. Rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhyming words or phrases. Back

10. “Khaki Suits” Historical: The song says “once in khaki suits, gee we looked so swell.” This is referring back to World War 1 and the excitement of the soldiers during this time. They believed this war was going to be a solution to the tough times. Back

11. “Say don’t you remember” Literary: This verse of the song is an example of an Apostrophe. An Apostrophe is when a line refers to an omniscient person or reaches out to the audience. When this soldier says “say don’t you remember” he is calling out to the people, asking if they remember this time too. Back

12. “Buddy” Historical: Back in World War 1 and 2, the term “buddy” was used to describe a military friend. This whole song is relating to war and the depression, so by saying buddy it is referring to a military buddy, or a friend. Back

13. “Yankee Doodly Dum” Historical: This verse of the song connects to two different historical events: 1)It relates to the propaganda and excitement of the Americans going into war. 2) It also connects to the song “Yankee Doddle Dandy”, where it says “full of macaroni” because they were once very happy about the circumstances, but now they are not. Back

14. “Slogging through Hell” Historical: This verse relates to how the Americans were heading towards their glory, but later find themselves “slogging through hell”. It also shows how they felt going through the rough situations in the trenches. Back

15. “Kid with the drum” Historical: During the war, the boys with the drums were used to warn the armies when they were about to be attacked. They were in charge of transporting urgent messages as well. Boys as young as seven were recruited, and the average age was 12. Back