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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?