A STORY IN SONG

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 78, 29 September 1934, Page 5

A STORY IN SONG

MUSIC AND DEPRESSION!

DEFIANCE OF A PEOPLE

As the story of any period is written in its popular music, so the story of tlia depression has been.'told in song, says an American paper. The minstrel of Tin Pan Alley has brought, out a ballad for every type of financial worry, mirroring our fears with startling fidelity. Bankruptcy, stock losses, unemployment—all have resulted iv ditties that have reflected our moods and vagaries and may have.brought surcease for sorrow. Laugh and be merry, for tomorrow we default on the mortgage payment —such was Broadway's reaction to the cataclysm. A period of musical silence followed the success of "Pat on the Back" and contemporaneous pieces; then rapidly; there came a veritable flood of sougp, all reflecting various moods and manners of the depression. There was grimness in them. But this feeling was relieved now and then by a spicy dash, of humour. As a heritage from a memorable musical comedy of the period wa have "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee," one of the jolliest of all depression songs. ' The concluding lines of the chorus typify its spirit: . . . there's a rainbow in the sky, So let's havo another cup of coffee, And let's havo another piece of pie! This composition has a good deal more substance than most of the depression songs. However, the entire repertoire has averaged well with respect to melody. We cannot say the same for the verses, yet they sing us along, evoking laughter and good cheer. "CHEER UP!" In 1932, with the economic situation getting steadily worse, the depression minstrelsy grew richer day by day. "Good times are coming" warbles tho minstrel, "so cheer up!" It may have been premature, but the same criticism may bo applied, and with more reason, to that other composition, "Happy Days Are Here Again," which was winning wide favour. "Happy Days achieved a well-deserved success, quito apart from the Presidential campaign, and apart, too, from any question as to the accuracy of its text. But the minstrel had various other depression-inspired songs in his bag of melody at that time, and these were of a totally different mood. Paralleling the success of "Happy Days" and its exact antithesis in spirit, came that melancholy solicitation of the mendicant, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" With the advent of this song, depression minstrelsy halted its cheers and turned realist. Were we indeed reduced to such penury as to be dimeless? Not so, if one may believe the song writers, for a musical reply to our dime-begging brother came forth promptly thereafter, and soon the nation was singing with even greater gusto than before: "Hero it is. Monday-ana I've still got a dollar!" When the minstrel voice of America sooke again it was in accents befitting the mood of the nation. The song was "Whaddya Got to Lose?" The very uvisery of the melody proved ats appeal and soon it was being hummed, whistled, and radioed from coast to coast. It w not easy to forget the denial wad of those last lines: Hi-ho. lackaday, Whaddya got to lose? Vet even that song appears optimistic when compared with one winch vras SOO n to follow. Its successor, "Let * Put Out the Light and Go to Sleep. was the ultimate articulation of despair. Fascinating in its own strange w^ "Let's Put Out the Light'/ ha>.tho numbing power of a heavy opiate. Fi.ig. ments of the chorus reflect its mood:, No more money in the bank, . ~ jvo cute baby we can spank, , What's to do about it? ■ • , Let's put out the light and go to sleep. SHORT-LIVED. ptpSar among radio listen ens » "Marching Along Together It fleets the recovery spirit, both m mcl ody and words: Marcliine along together, . Sharing every smile aiul.tou, lUarchin" along together. Whistling till skies will clear' _ Miterialism, however, has had its in-rnL-nVhefunemployed statistics Sanded in one gi«J on American psychologyr b^t»»"^' ! Who's afraid , depart. .■