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Related: About this forumA Tribute to Blacklisted Lyricist Yip Harburg: The Man Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz
November 22, 2012
From Democracy Now:
His name might not be familiar to many, but his songs are sung by millions around the world. Today, we take a journey through the life and work of Yip Harburg, the Broadway lyricist who wrote such hits as "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" and who put the music into The Wizard of Oz. Born into poverty on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Harburg always included a strong social and political component to his work, fighting racism and poverty. A lifelong socialist, Harburg was blacklisted and hounded throughout much of his life. We speak with Harburgs son, Ernie Harburg, about the music and politics of his father. Then we take an in-depth look at The Wizard of Oz, and hear a medley of Harburgs Broadway songs and the politics of the times in which they were created.
[includes rush transcript, at link]
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/11/22/a_tribute_to_blacklisted_lyricist_yip
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Love Bug
(6,036 posts)Well worth the hour to watch. The next time I watch Wizard of Oz I'm going to think about the political subtext of the story and songs.
Speaking of Depression songs like Brother Can You Spare a Dime, there is a great one in the movie Golddiggers of 1933 titled The Forgotten Man. I'd post a link but I' m typing from my kindle and I don't know how to copy and paste web links. But a google search will bring up links to the video of Joan Blondell singing it.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)I'm glad Democracy Now did a tribute to him, he deserved at least that much.