http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDUhTGXjEuk This is a link to a song that people may have listened to during The Great Depression.
Music was important during The Great Depression. There were so few good events in the lives of the farmers who were forced to leave their homes. The people would scour the land for work while being forced to watch their children starve. With so few good times, it’s not surprising that people searched for something to lighten the mood. Everyone would gather to share stories and play music. When death tore families apart, gathering for entertainment was one of the few things that could bring people together. During The Great Depression it was rare for people to have a chance to see movies. When one person went to see a movie, they remembered everything they could so they could share it with everyone else which is shown in The Grapes of Wrath when the author writes, “And perhaps a man balanced twenty cents between food and pleasure, and he went to a movie in Marysville or Tulare, in Ceres or Mountain View. And he came back to the ditch camp with his memory crowded. And he told how it was.” (Steinbeck 326) Steinbeck also clearly shows how desperate people of the 1930’s were to find entertainment when he writes, “The migrant people, scuttling for work, scrabbling to live, looked always for pleasure, dug for pleasure, manufactured pleasure, and they were hungry for amusement.” (Steinbeck 325)
During The Great Depression 25 to 60 percent of people lost their jobs. This number was dependent on a person’s race. More African Americans lost jobs than white men. When people were losing everything else, they still had their voices. They could sing and some could play the harmonica or guitar. Some people lost so much that they were homeless. One couple spent a year of their lives living in a cave. Music may not have brought them food, but it was one of the few things able to provide hope to the miserable people.
Well done, Turkey Bandit. I like the website you used for information, and the song seems in perfect spirit of the time. 25/25
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