Great Depression As Hard Times

For as long as there has been music, it has been, in some way or another, a reflection of life. For some, it helps explore the complex emotions that come with historical events. In other cases, it is a commentary on the current political or social climate. Since creatives are often told, “write what you know”, it may also just be an illustration of what the musician is seeing in the world around them. Throughout history, there have been many songs that exhibit this link between music and current events. This is exemplified particularly well in the 1920s, with songs like “It’s the Smart Little Feller Who Stocked Up His Cellar (That’s Getting the Beautiful Girls)” and “Flamin’ Mamie”. “Brother Can You Spare a Dime” and “We Sure Got Hard Times” accurately reflect the events of the 1930s. Lastly, the events of the 1940s and 1950s very blatantly shaped the music of the time, exemplified by songs such as “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” and “I’ll be Home for Christmas”. Regardless of what the current events of a time period are, they will certainly affect the music that is created during that time.

One of the key events of the 1920s was Prohibition. Though the Eighteenth Amendment was technically ratified before the 1920s, it took effect in 1920, which made recreational alcohol illegal in the United States. Music from the 1920s reflects the strong feelings the nation had surrounding Prohibition. While enough politicians supported Prohibition to ratify the Eighteenth Amendment, the American citizens felt very differently, to the point where they would show their distaste for Prohibition in Court. “…Jurymen in wet districts refusing to pronounce bootleggers guilty,” (Only Yesterday).  The song, “It’s the Smart Little Feller Who Stocked Up His Cellar (That’s Getting the Beautiful Girls)” by Grant Clarke and Milton Ager (published in 1920) illustrates how valuable alcohol was, particularly in the beginning of Prohibition. The song begins by telling the story of a millionaire who used to be able to get any woman he wanted because of his money, yet he laments that that is no longer the case. The chorus begins “Oh, they won’t call you honey because you’ve got money/It isn’t for money they sigh”. This shows that, while money used to be an important trait in a lover, in the 1920s, women began looking for something different. The chorus ends with the title of the song, “It’s the smart little feller who stocked up his cellar/That’s getting the beautiful girls”. This reflects how important alcohol possession was: it wasn’t completely unrealistic for a woman (or multiple women) to give a man attention, primarily because he had access to alcohol.

The 1920s also saw women becoming more promiscuous and having slightly more sexual freedom than they had had in the past. The song “Flamin’ Mamie” performed by Mike Markel’s Orchestra (released in 1925) describes a fiesty, fiery young woman with lines including “She’s the hottest thing… since the Chicago Fire” and “Flamin’ Mamie, the surefire Vamp/The hottest baby in town”. These lines do not vilify Mamie for her sexuality, they celebrate it. This reflects the shift that was beginning to happen culturally, which allowed women to embrace their sexuality more than they had been able to in the past. This also shows some of the ideas seen in the movie “It” where a girl with that certain wow factor seduces a wealthy businessman.

The 1930s saw the greatest financial disaster the United States has yet to experience. Most everyone was affected, from migrant workers to Wall Street Executives. A young boy remembers in his family, “‘I knew the Depression had really hit when the electric lights went out. My parents could no longer pay the $1 electric bill,’” (Terkel 108). This illustrates how severe the Depression was. The stock market crashed gradually and then very suddenly. Initially, the Stock Market was crashing gradually. During World War I, the government was buying grain from farmers, which cause more people to farm grain and farmers to expand their farms. After the war, the demand for grain plummeted, which left farmers with too much grain and with prohibition, no place to sell it. For many there was no way to earn enough money to support a family. Then it crashed very suddenly when a group of brokers realized that there had been more money lent for stocks than there was left in the banks. Stocks decreased in value rapidly. “The New York Times averages for fifty leading stocks had been almost cut in half, falling from a high of 311.90 in September to a low of 164.43 on November 13th; and theTimes averages for twenty-five leading industrials had fared still worse, diving from 469.49 to 220.95,” (Only Yesterday). They sold their stocks, which caused a panic among others, leading them to try to get their money back. The banks did not have enough money, so they closed. Much of the music from the 1930s reflects the economic turmoil of the decade.

One example of this is Bing Crosby’s 1930’s song, “Brother Can You Spare a Dime”. Crosby spends the song singing about what life was like prior to the great financial hardship of the 1930s. The second verse of the song is, “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?” Prior to the Great Depression, many people were working in hopes of making a better life for themselves and their families, exhibited by the lines, “They used to tell me I was building a dream/With peace and glory ahead”. The second two lines of the verse refer to one of the most iconic features of the 1930s, Bread Lines, where people would stand and wait for food when they did not have enough money to feed their families.

Another song which is most certainly reflective of the 1930s is “We Sure Got Hard Times” by Barbecue Bob (released in 1930). This song very clearly illustrates how difficult it was to find work during this time, due to a high demand of people needing work and a low supply of jobs. Russell Lee said, “‘I was making sixty-seven cents an hour as a linotype operator. At about $27 a week, I was a big shot,”” (Terkel 136). Lee was considered to be doing well financially during the Depression, yet he was making less and one dollar per hour. This exhibits how easy it was to exploit workers during the Depression. For example, the third verse is, “You heard about a job, now you is on your way/You heard about a job, now you is on your way/Twenty mens out for the same job, all in the same old day”. This shows how much competition there was for a day’s work. Justin McCarthy tells of his time working at a Ford assembly plant, “‘The gates were locked when you came in at eight o’clock in the morning. They weren’t opened again until five o’clock in the evening… If you wanted to go to the toilet, you had to have permission of the foreman… If he couldn’t [find a substitute] right away, you held it,’“ (Terkel 156). Due to the high demand of any work, employers were able to pay workers very little and treat them very poorly, so while one may have had work for a day, he or she likely would have suffered for what little pay they would receive. Another section that is particularly poignant is, “You want a drink of liquor, you think it’s awful nice/When you want a drink of liquor and you think it’s awful nice/You put your hand in your pocket and you ain’t got the price”. Many people use alcohol to drown their worries, even in times of financial distress. However, during the Great Depression, people could not even afford alcohol.

In the United States, the culture of the 1940s largely centered around World War II. While many of the men went off to war, the women stayed in the United States, but they took on many responsibilities that had belonged to the men. One song that captures the situation many of the men were in is, “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” by Frank Loesser (published in 1942). The title itself reflects the tragic irony the soldiers faced; most religions (the Lord) do not condone murder, yet in the same sentence, they are distributing ammunition, which is used to kill. One verse contains the lines, “Praise the Lord, we’re all between perdition/

And the deep blue sea”. These lines reflect the morbid outlook one has when at war. Not only does this line suggest that the soldiers are thinking of their own deaths, but that at least some part of them believes they will face Damnation rather than Salvation.

Another song that reflects the effects World War I had on society, though it may not seem that way superficially, is the classic holiday song, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” by Bing Crosby (recorded in 1943). “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” was recorded two years into America’s involvement in World War II. Soldiers had been gone a long time, and many families wanted nothing more than to be reunited with their loved one overseas. The singer tells his loved ones to plan on him being home for the holiday, with lines like, “You can plan on me” and “Christmas eve will find me/Where the love light gleams”. The song ends on a somber note, saying “I’ll be home for Christmas/If only in my dreams”. This reflects the uncertainty surrounding the war, with people wondering when (as well as if) they would see their loved ones again. For those who eventually did see their loved ones again, they were very eager to settle down and have children, which is illustrated by the fact that “The census bureau reported issuing more marriage licenses in 1946 than any other year, an increase of 40 percent over 1945,”. This is likely out of both the joy of being reunited and they fear of potentially being torn away again (Anderson 2).

Art, as a whole, tends to imitate life. In decades as trying as the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, this is incredibly apparent in the music created during these times. Music from the 1920s heavily focuses on Prohibition and the social and cultural repercussions it has. Music from the 1930s, however, focuses on the Great Depression, and the suffering of people trying to survive in an absolutely devastated economy. The music in the 1940s discussed World War II and its effect, not only on the soldiers themselves, but on all those affected by the war. Through examining the music of these decades and how it related to the events of the time period, it becomes very apparent that music is very significantly shaped by the time in which it is created.

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