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Ah I do recall it was heaven sent
A letter with dollars
I had already spent
They took it from me so long ago
I wonder when and if
Any one will know
From what window does light fall
A capture of
Not at all
Traps of haps ah hazard
Lay quiet in
The hall
I saw her and him white on black
They were the epidemic of lock
And that
A restoration of virtue reality
So place your vote
Remembering nothing is free
Trade your markers well
Fell is outside of tell
A child calls
Wonder when
The chance
Will happen again
I watched five hundred nays
A million men
A cry from child
Who is meek
And what is mild
A coffin left in flag draped
Nape of time
In oil
And rake
Do or do not
What answer do you seek
Survival of strongest
Who said we were weak
Primary of the right the left and the gone
Silicate in shadows
I wander along
Hoping and praying
That right turns from wrong
Bible in hand
I seek the place
Where God
Heals the human
Race
Vote your mind and soul
it is free will
God like you own
Author Notes
I never question duty, or responsibility, obligation, as a writer, I report, and cry often at old friends left, once we seemed to be kinder more human lot.
added thought,
BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?
(E. Y. HARBURG/JAY GORNEY) (1932)
Any copyrighted material on these pages is used in "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s).
In "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," Harburg creates an Everyman narrator for his song, a person who has built railroads, skyscrapers,. and tilled the fields. This person has contributed to the vast bounty of the land (through his plow) and kept faith with the promise of the land by bearing guns for it in time of war. There is even a veiled allusion to the mytheme of manifest destiny when the narrator tries to understand how, after he has helped build a dream of "peace and glory ahead," he can now be standing in a breadline. And there is a somewhat ironic allusion to the patriot's mytheme in the lines where he describes the half-million "boots" that went slogging through hell "Full of that Yankee Doodle-de-dum." This last line would remind listeners of the old Revolutionary War song, and also of George M. Cohan's "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and his "Over There." The allusion is veiled enough that Harburg wouldn't necessarily bring down the wrath of the man who once "owned Broadway" but the line serves as a mild indictment of the patriotism that swept us into war but seems not to be reciprocal. Harburg has said of his narrator that he isn't bitter, "He's bewildered. Here is a man who had built his faith and hope in this country. . . . Then came the crash. Now he can't accept the fact that the bubble has burst. He still believes. He still has faith. He just doesn't understand what could have happened to make everything go so wrong" (quoted in 1971, Green 69).
Timothy Scheurer, Born in the USA, Jackson, Mississippi, 1991, pp. 118-119.
Lyrics as recorded by Bing Crosby, 1932, transcribed by Manfred Helfert.
DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN TO SONG (REAL AUDIO FORMAT, 500 KB)
FOR A RELATED/SIMILAR SONG, SEE ALSO "Remember My Forgotten Man"
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 Doodle-de-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 --
Say, buddy, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, ah, gee, we looked swell
Full of that Yankee Doodle-de-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?
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