Brubeck's style ranged from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. Much of his music employed unusual time signatures, a fact jokingly referred to by his greatest hits album 'Time Signatures: A Career Retrospective'. Upon his death, a number of commentators noted his crossover appeal to mainstream pop audiences, something putting him in the company of other jazz legends such as Louis Armstrong and Herbie Hancock among others.
Brother Can You Spare A Dime
Dave Brubeck Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I Was Building A Dream
And So I Followed The Mob
When There Was Earth To Plow
Or Guns To Bear
I Was Always There
Right On The Job
They Used To Tell Me
With Peace And Glory Ahead
Why Should I Be Standing In Line
Just Waiting For Bread?
Once I Built A Railroad
I Made It Run
Made It Race Against Time
Once I Built A Railroad
Now It′s Done
Brother Can You Spare A Dime?
Once I Built A Tower Up To The Sun
Brick And Rivet And Lime
Once I Built A Tower
Now It's Done
Brother Can You Spare A Dime?
Once In Khaki Suits
Gee We Looked Swell
Full Of That Yankee Doodle Dee Dum
Half A Million Boots Went Sloggin′ Through Hell
And I Was The Kid With The Drum!
Say Don't You Remember?
They Called Me Al
It Was Al All The Time
Why Don't You Remember?
I′m Your Pal
Say Buddy Can You Spare A Dime?
Once In Khaki Suits
Ah Gee We Looked Swell
Full Of That Yankee Doodle Dee Dum!
Half A Million Boots Went Sloggin′ Through Hell
And I Was The Kid With The Drum!
Oh Say Don't You Remember?
They Called Me Al
It Was Al All The Time
Say Don′t You Remember?
I'm Your Pal
Buddy Can You Spare A Dime?
Dave Brubeck's song Brother Can You Spare A Dime discusses an individual in the midst of the Great Depression. The lyrics talk about someone who was told they were building a dream and followed the crowd in previous times, but now they have lost their job and are struggling to find work. The individual reminisces about their past accomplishments, including building a railroad and a tower but now recognizes that their hard work has not paid off as they are standing in line waiting for food. The song evokes feelings of desperation and hopelessness as the individual asks if their pal can spare some change.
The lyrics paint a picture of someone who has worked hard their entire life and has nothing to show for it. The individual talks about the time when they were in khaki suits and looked swell, but now they are struggling to make ends meet. Furthermore, the song emphasizes how the individual's connection to society is gone as they are no longer able to contribute to society in a way that they once did. The lyrics are a commentary on how society treats individuals who are struggling and how their achievements and hard work suddenly become obsolete when the economy takes a downturn.
Overall, Brother Can You Spare A Dime is a poignant song that speaks to the struggles of the working-class during the Great Depression. The lyrics evoke feelings of desperation, hopelessness, and longing for a time when things were better.
Line by Line Meaning
They Used To Tell Me
People used to tell me
I Was Building A Dream
I was chasing a dream
And So I Followed The Mob
And so I followed the crowd
When There Was Earth To Plow
When there was manual labor to do
Or Guns To Bear
Or weapons to carry
I Was Always There
I was always present
Right On The Job
Ready to work
With Peace And Glory Ahead
Believing there was a peaceful and great future ahead
Why Should I Be Standing In Line
Why should I wait in line?
Just Waiting For Bread?
Just to get some food?
Once I Built A Railroad
Once I constructed a railroad
I Made It Run
I operated it
Made It Race Against Time
Made it run as fast as possible
Now It′s Done
But now it is complete
Brother Can You Spare A Dime?
Can you give me a coin?
Once I Built A Tower Up To The Sun
Once I built a tower reaching for the sky
Brick And Rivet And Lime
I used all sorts of building materials
Now It's Done
But now it is complete
Once In Khaki Suits
Once I was in military attire
Gee We Looked Swell
I must have looked impressive
Full Of That Yankee Doodle Dee Dum
Full of pride for my country
Half A Million Boots Went Sloggin′ Through Hell
A large number of soldiers went through a difficult time
And I Was The Kid With The Drum!
And I was the youngster with the drum!
Say Don't You Remember?
Don't you recall?
They Called Me Al
They used to call me Al
It Was Al All The Time
My name was Al all the time
Why Don't You Remember?
Why can't you remember?
I′m Your Pal
I'm your friend
Buddy Can You Spare A Dime?
Can you give me a coin, buddy?
Writer(s): E Harburg, Jay Gorney
Contributed by Noah G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
vwbug1971
When I was in college (72-80), I went to a concert to hear Brubeck. I was overcome with awe at the group's tight sound and impressive leads. This is an example of what I heard that night, a wonderful rendition of a song from a time period that caused great depression and loss. They play the more upbeat section representing patriotism, God and apple pie, impressively.
My Name Is Victoria Winters
you really took a long assed time getting through college ... maybe you needed a few more nights studying and not out at concerts
ᗩᑎGEᒪIᑎᗩ
@My Name Is Victoria Winters Ha ha ha ha ha. Good one.
Mert Lassonde
Makes me want to cry. Love those guys.
Felipe de J. Cervera
Love them too
Bas Monydi
Would be great to have the notes of the improvised 'melody' as played by Paul Desmond., would like to play it on the piano
John Benn
WOW WOW WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The greatest jazz quartet of all time.
From a 72yo Aussie fan.
David Rixon
another aussie fan here too
lakis diakogiannis
BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME(Harburg-Gorney) from:Dave Brubeck Quartet:”Brubeck Time”. EXCELLENT! EXCELLENT! with this music of Dave & Paul I started to learn alto and I play until now (I am 70). 100% jazz!!!
killian mcphillips
lakis diakogiannis to