Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Santa Sangre Redux

Hard times seem to be at our door. We might not be dressing in rags and flour sacks yet, but I find myself thinking about the price of gas, the price of eating out, the price of going to see a movie, the price of a concert ticket, the price of new shoes…well, you get the idea. What of the Occupy Movement? The 99%? I don’t know. But when I see banks, petrolium companies and huge corporations posting massive profits I can’t help but feel a little pissed.
Which brings us to Brother, Can You Spare a Dime. It was written in 1931 and became a song closely associated with the Great Depression era. The song asks the question (from the point of view of the worker, farmer, and veteran of the military) why is it now that the work is done and our labor no longer needed do we find themselves abandoned?
Tom Waits covered it on his 1976 album Spare Parts sounding every bit the ‘trash can Sinatra’ of his early era.


 


Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? | Santa Sangre Redux