What led Harburg to write the song, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”

Harburg was inspired by the unemployed men he saw during the Great Depression, including men begging for money and waiting in bread lines on New York’s streets. The song gives voice to workers who had helped build the country but were now struggling to survive. The answer is the able-bodied men he saw begging and standing in bread lines, not a request from President Roosevelt.

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