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

Harburg was moved by seeing able-bodied men who had lost their jobs begging and waiting in bread lines during the Great Depression. Those scenes inspired the song’s portrayal of men who had worked hard for the country but now needed help. The correct choice is “the able-bodied men he saw begging for money and standing in bread lines in the streets of New York.”

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.