“Brother, Can You Spare a
Dime”
By: Yip Harburg
Caitlin Cumberland
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
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?
Citations
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
“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
“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
“Once I built a railroad”
Literary:
An anaphora is a
repetition of words or
phrases at the beginning
of a line.
Back
“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
Historical:
“Khaki Suits”
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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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.
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