This is a BIG topic! So many interesting artists were singing during this time, and lots of great songs were written. First we had an overview of what was happening at the beginning of the Great Depression. How did it begin? Look at the timeline below to get an idea:
PBS Great Depression Timeline
The song Brother Can You Spare a Dime is a good example of the resentment people felt at being so poor, so quickly. Here is a great recording of Bing Crosby singing, with photographs from the era:
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
More than a quarter million homeless teens were riding the rails and traveling as hobos during this time. A famous musician that also rode the rails, and worked on them, was Jimmie Rodgers. Known as, "The Singing Brakeman" Rodgers wrote and recorded many songs about trains and life during the Great depression.
Waiting for the Train
Another song recorded by Rodgers was a great example of a hobo's dream:
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
We are learning The Big Rock Candy Mountain in class and we all agreed that cigarette trees sound disgusting. We sing "lollipop trees", but may also add in an occasional, "chocolate tree". Lyrics below:
One evening as the sun went down
And the jungle fires were burning,
Down the track came a hobo hiking,
And he said, "Boys, I'm not turning
I'm headed for a land that's far away
Besides the crystal fountains
So come with me, we'll go and see
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
There's a land that's fair and bright,
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night.
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
And the birds and the bees
And the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs
Where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
All the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers' trees are full of fruit
And the barns are full of hay
Oh I'm bound to go
Where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall
The winds don't blow
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railway bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew
And of whiskey too
You can paddle all around it
In a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
The jails are made of tin.
And you can walk right out again,
As soon as you are in.
There ain't no short-handled shovels,
No axes, saws nor picks,
I'm bound to stay
Where you sleep all day,
Where they hung the jerk
That invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.
....
I'll see you all this coming fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountain
In 1940 Woody Guthrie wrote, "This Land is Your Land", which most people know. What most people don't know about, however, are the lyrics that are usually left out:
As
I went walking I saw a sign there
And
on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But
on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That
side was made for you and me.
It also has a verse:
Nobody
living can ever stop me,
As
I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody
living can ever make me turn back
This
land was made for you and me.
In
the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By
the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As
they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is
this land made for you and me?
We will sing the entire song in this class, and maybe even share it with everyone at the end.
The final clip we watched in class was the ultimate fantasy of the 1930's, We're In the Money! from 1933.
Next week look for reports on Duke Ellington and Billie Holliday, written by students in the class.
