ANTHEM OF THE 1929 DEPRESSION
Submitted by giarts-ts-admin on February 9, 2009
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVE72Ae82Tw&hl=en&fs=1]
One of the all-time great covers of Brother Can you Spare a Dime was recorded by Tom Waits in 1993, featured on this video with photos by Dorthea Lange and others.
Written in 1931 by lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg and composer Jay Gorney, Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? was part of the 1932 musical New American. It 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 Warner Bros. 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.