Brother Can You Spare?

Submitted by ub on

Forget that old line which was coined in 1929, when the average unemployment in the US was 3.2%. In 1930, after an unprecedented stock market crash devastated the U.S. economy, the average unemployment was 8.9%.

By 1932, when Bing Crosby's version of "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" was released, the unemployment had soared to 24.1%. The height of the Great Depression had arrived, and unfortunately, it was still just the beginning. This may well have been the first protest song. https://youtu.be/eih67rlGNhU?list=RDeih67rlGNhU

Years later, at the request of The New York Times the lyrics were updated by Yip Harburg al legendary lyricist and Human Rights Activist with the following phrases...

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?

https://youtu.be/Ij3ba71gtrU?list=PLjjZij6SW365atMEwWC8wsv7iV-X9OfYB

Will there be an yet another updated version... Brother, can you dump your increasing funk?