Manufacturing Memory: American Popular Music in the 1930's

Cool online Jukebox here, featuring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, The Carter Family, Ethel Waters, Blind Willie Johnson, Leadbelly, Duke Ellington, Robert Johnson, Judy Garland, Glenn Miller, etc etc. Doesn't get any better than that.

"American popular music from the 1930's reflects the cultural and social conditions that shaped the American identity during the period. For the purposes of this academic endeavor, the term "popular music" applies to any music in any genre from a select time frame that aspired to and achieved popularity with a particular audience. The popular music of the thirties can be used as a lens to better understand the collective memory of the American people during a decade marked by the Depression, emerging technologies and the growing population of cities as many Americans relocated from rural areas. The music in these pages is in many ways reflective of how Americans imagined themselves during this period. It is important to note that all of the songs posted here were originally released as phonograph records, and as such were the products of an industrial process that shaped this imagination of national identity."

Paper Moon (1973)

Peter Bogdanovich's "Paper Moon" (1973) was my favorite movie when I was 12 years old, and it's one of the loveliest recreations of the Depression that's ever been done in later years in Hollywood.

• Review by Robert Ebert.
• Review by DVD Savant

Clip from film:

Classic scene: "You want a Nehi and a Coney Island"?



The Nehi soda brand is not that well known outside the US; so here are a couple of old ads for us none-Americans:

The song "It's Only a Paper Moon" was written in 1933 by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and Billy Rose. The version in the movie is by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra.

Say, it's only a paper moon,
Sailing over a cardboard sea,
But it wouldn't be make believe,
If you believed in me.

Yes, it's only a canvas sky,
Hanging over a muslin tree
But it wouldn't be make believe,
If you believed in me.

Without your love it's a honky tonk parade,
Without your love it's a melody played in a penny arcade.

It's a Barnum and Bailey world
just a phony as it can be,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me. 

Great songs from the 30's part II: "No Depression in Heaven"

The Carter Family's "No Depression in Heaven" is a truly chilling and apocalyptic song about the Great Depression.

Unfortunately I can't find a complete clip of the original recording, but Amazon has a 30 second clip - you can go to The Carter Family's myspace-page and liste to other Carter family songs from the 30's, including the immortal "Single Girl, Married Girl" and "Wildwood Flower".

However, youtube has clips of the fine No Depression cover versions by Uncle Tupelo and Sheryl Crow. The Uncle Tupelo version inspired an entire alt.-country movement called "No Depression".

Sheryl Crow:



Uncle Tupelo:



NO DEPRESSION IN HEAVEN

For fear the hearts of men are failing,
For these are latter days we know
The Great Depression now is spreading,
God's word declared it would be so

I'm going where there's no depression,
To the lovely land that's free from care
I'll leave this world of toil and trouble,
My home's in Heaven, I'm going there

In that bright land, there'll be no hunger,
No orphan children crying for bread,
No weeping widows, toil or struggle,
No shrouds, no coffins, and no death

This dark hour of midnight nearing
And tribulation time will come
The storms will hurl in midnight fear
And sweep lost millions to their doom

Great songs from the 30's part I: "Brazil"

The original version of the immortal "Brazil" is actually named "Aquarela do Brasil" ("Watercolor of Brazil")

According to Wikipedia: "it is one of the most popular Brazilian songs of all times, written by Ary Barroso on a rainy night in 1939. This song marked the creation of a new genre, the samba-exaltação (Exaltation Samba), which was looked upon favorably by the nationalist dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas. Some people have suggested that the composer was kowtowing to the Vargas regime, although the Barroso family strongly denies it, and Ary Barroso is known to have written at least one anti-fascist song, "Salada Mixta," recorded by Carmen Miranda in October 1938."

The song was used in Terry Gilliam's "Brazil". The cover version that Kate Bush did for the movie wasn't actually used , but it appeared on the soundtrack.

Brazilian version:



Kate Bush version:



Arcade Fire version: