The 18th Amendment, Prohibition, became effective in January 1920. Prohibition was hugely unpopular with the average American. It was a failure; and, it spawned bootlegging, organized crime and political corruption. Prohibition was repealed by the passage of the 21st Amendment in 1933.
“The Alcoholic Blues,” words by E. Laska, music by A. Vontilzer, is sung by B. Murray at (https://youtu.be/aWgY7YjoH0I). The lyrics to this song give a pretty clear opinion on the stance towards the prohibition. The singer is begging and depressed and is really down in the “blues.” The song is pretty important to understanding that not everyone was for prohibition.
I love my country, ‘deed I do
But oh, that war has made me blue
I like fightin’, that’s my name
But fightin’ is the least about the fightin’ gameWhen Mister Hoover said to cut my dinner down
I never even hesitate, I never frown
I cut my sugar, I cut my coal
But now they dug deep in my soulI’ve got the blues, I’ve got the blues
I’ve got the alcoholic blues
No more beer, my heart to cheer
Goodbye whiskey, you used to make me frisky
So long highball, so long gin
Oh, tell me when you comin’ back againBlues, I’ve got the blues
Since they amputated my booze
Lordy, Lordy, war is well
You know I don’t have to tell
I’ve got the alcoholic blues
Some blues, I’ve got the bluesProhibition that’s the name
Prohibition drives me insane
I’m so thirsty, soon I’ll die
I’m simply goin’ to evaporate, I’m just that dryI wouldn’t mind to live forever in a trench
Just if my daily thirst they only let me quench
And not with Bevo or Ginger Ale
I want the real stuff by the pailI’ve got the blues, I’ve got the blues
I’ve got the alcoholic blues
No more beer, my heart to cheer
Goodbye whiskey, you used to make me frisky
So long highball, so long gin
Oh, tell me when you’re comin’ back againBlues, I’ve got the blues
Since they amputated my booze
Lordy, Lordy, war is well
You know, I don’t have to tell
I’ve got the alcoholic blues
Some blues, I’ve got the blues
“We’ve Got Franklin D. Roosevelt Back Again,” (1936) was written by Bill Cox and recorded by the New Lost City Ramblers. (https://youtu.be/hAUMhawQjBk) It was written shortly after FDR was re-elected the first time in 1936. He won by the largest plurality in history. This song praises FDR for getting people back to work but also focuses on the repeal of Prohibition, which began shortly after his taking office in 1933. The country had been ‘dry’ since 1920. The joy of having FDR ‘back again’ is underlined by the fact that there were legal alcohol sales now. (http://musicfromthedepression.com/old-age-pension-check/)
Just hand me my old Martin for soon I will be startin’
Back to dear old Charleston far away
Since Roosevelt’s been re-elected, we’ll not be neglected
We’ve got Franklin D. Roosevelt back againBack again, back again
We’ve got Franklin D. Roosevelt back again
Since Roosevelt’s been re-elected
Moonshine liquor’s been corrected
We’ve got legal wine, whiskey, beer and ginI’ll take a drink of brandy and let myself be handy
Good old times are coming back again
You can laugh and tell a joke, you can dance and drink and smoke
We’ve got Franklin D. Roosevelt back again
We’ve got Franklin D. Roosevelt back again
We’ll have money in our jeans
We can travel with the queen
We’ve got Franklin D. Roosevelt back againNo more breadlines, we’re happy to say the donkey won election
day
No more standing in the blowing, snowing rain
He’s got things in full swing, we’re all working and getting our
pay
We’ve got Franklin D. Roosevelt back againWe’ve got Franklin D. Roosevelt back again
Since Roosevelt’s been re-elected
Moonshine liquor’s been corrected
We’ve got Franklin D. Roosevelt back again
Not surprisingly given prohibition and the economic conditions, the Depression years were infamous due to the illegal activities of a group of gangsters, referred to by the FBI as “Public Enemies.” The newspaper media treated the gangsters in heroic fashion, expounding on their criminal exploits in a sensationalist manner. One of the most notorious of the gangsters was John Dillinger, a bank robber who killed ten people in the process. Dillinger had a popular image as a modern day Robin Hood: “Dillinger did not rob poor people. He robbed those who became rich by robbing the poor.” (TFC, Vol. 4 at pp. 100-113.) Another gangster was Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd, who robbed more than 30 Midwestern banks and post offices. He killed at least 10 people during his robbery spree. (Id.) And, there were “Baby Face” Nelson (actual name Lester M. Gillis), who made a name for himself as a gunslinger for Dillinger. He died in a shootout with the FBI in 1934 (Id.), Bonnie (Parker) and Clyde (Barrow) “The most sadistic of the decade’s hoods,” who killed for the thrill of killing, ultimately killing nine police officers and several civilians before they themselves were ambushed and killed in Louisiana in 1934. (http://guides.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/content.php?pid=639863&sid=5339888) Others included “Machine Gun” Kelly and “Ma” Barker and her sons, The Barker Gang. (Id.)
“The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde,” written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callendar, was sung by Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames (1967). (https://youtu.be/ubOI9yY55JU)
Bonnie and Clyde were pretty lookin’ people
But I can tell you people They were the devil’s children,
Bonnie and Clyde began their evil doin’
One lazy afternoon down Savannah way,
They robbed a store, and high-tailed outa that town
Got clean away in a stolen car,
And waited till the heat died down,
Bonnie and Clyde advanced their reputation
And made the graduation
Into the banking business.
“Reach for the sky” sweet-talking Clyde would holler
As Bonnie loaded dollars in the dewlap bag,
Now one brave man-he tried to take ’em alone
They left him lyin’ in a pool of blood,
And laughed about it all the way home.
Bonnie and Clyde got to be public enemy number one
Running and hiding from ev’ry American lawman’s gun.
They used to laugh about dyin’,
But deep inside ’em they knew
That pretty soon they’d be lyin’
Beneath the ground together
Pushing up daisies to welcome the sun
And the morning dew.
Acting upon reliable information
A fed’ral deputation laid a deadly ambush.
When Bonnie and Clyde came walking in the sunshine
A half a dozen carbines opened up on them.
Bonnie and Clyde, they lived a lot together
And finally together they died.
Woody Guthrie wrote and sung “Pretty Boy Floyd,” a song that accepts the criminal-as-hero theme reflected in the news media. (https://youtu.be/JdeTr3lWPnY) Guthrie humanizes Floyd, showing him to be a common man. The song describes the process by which those in power oppress the common man by making him into an outlaw. Guthrie contrasts Floyd with a different kind of outlaw—one who will rob you “with a fountain pen” and “run a family from their home.” (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/RADIO/woody/fhframe.html)
If you’ll gather ’round me, children,
A story I will tell
Of Pretty Boy Floyd, an outlaw,
Oklahoma knew him well.It was in the town of Shawnee,
It was Saturday afternoon;
His wife beside him in his wagon,
As into town they rode.There a deputy sheriff approached him
In a manner rather rude,
Using vulgar words of language,
And his wife she overheard.Pretty Boy grabbed a log chain,
And the deputy grabbed a gun;
And in the fight that followed,
He laid that deputy down.He took to the trees and timbers
And he lived a life of shame;
Every crime in Oklahoma
Was added to his name.Yes, he took to the trees and timbers
On that Canadian River’s shore;
And Pretty Boy found a welcome
At a many a farmer’s door.There’s a many a starving farmer
The same old story told,
How this outlaw paid their mortgage
And saved their little home.Others tell you ’bout a stranger
That come to beg a meal,
And underneath his napkin
Left a thousand dollar bill.It was in Oklahoma City,
It was on a Christmas Day,
There come a whole car load of groceries
With a letter that did say:“You say that I’m an outlaw,
You say that I’m a thief;
Here’s a Christmas dinner
For the families on relief.”Now as through this world I ramble,
I see lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six gun,
And some with a fountain pen.But as through your life you travel,
As through your life you roam,
You won’t never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.
Almost as famous as the gangsters were the “G-men,” the FBI agents who pursued them. According to FBI legend, the phrase “G-men” was originated by Machine Gun Kelly, who, when he surrendered to the FBI, supposedly said “Don’t shoot G-men.” Famous FBI agents of the time were Eliot Ness and Melvin Purvis. Ness led a team of agents called “The Untouchables,” a nickname given to describe their incorruptibility while they aggressively enforced the laws against the gangsters. Purvis led the manhunts of Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger. It is said that J. Edgar Hoover was jealous of the limelight that Purvis attracted. (http://guides.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/content.php?pid=639863&sid=5339888)
Harold Rome, a Broadway composer, wrote and sung “When I Grow Up – The G-Man Song” (1937). (https://youtu.be/hRMMCh2F9LI) It is a humorous and satirical look at the popularity of FBI agents that references several items of pop culture of the day. It was part of the Broadway play “Pins and Needles,” which opened on November 27, 1937 and ran for 1,108 performances. (http://songwritershalloffame.org/songs/stage_detail/C238/25747)
When I grow up, I don’t want to be a fireman
Oh that’s just kid stuff, Oh that’s just kid stuff
When I grow up, I don’t want to be a policeman
They’re not tough enough, They’re not tough enoughWhen I grow up, I don’t want to work for the city
My old man says it takes too much out of ya’
Unions bother ya’
So I don’t cater to be mayor like La GuardiaWhen I grow up, I got my plan, see
It may not be quite so much fantasy
As some people might wish
But boy it’s just my dish
I’ll give you just a hint
I wouldn’t like to be an “A” man, or a “B” Man, a “C” man, a “D” man or a “F” man (get it)Gee, would I like to be a “G” man
And go “bang” “bang” “bang”
I’d be a brave gang busting “he man”
And go “bang” “bang” “bang”
I’d put on disguises of all different sizes
And would I win prizes for telling who spiesesGee, I’d like to be a “G” man
And go “bang” “bang” “bang”
Say stick’em up
And go bang, bang, bang
“Come clean you rat”,
Bang, bang, bangI’d be known in all the best parts of New York
Like “21,” “18” and the Stork
To all the finest night clubs I would go
To find out all the things a G-man ought to knowAnd after I go out and got my man
To Palm Beach I would go to get my tan
Though making merry, I’d be fancy free
Cause Mrs. Mitchell’s boy would be watchin’ out for meGee, would I like to be G-man
And go bang, bang, bang
Just like Dick Tracy, what a “he-man” and go bang, bang, bang
I’d do as I please after I handed Enrico
For when you’re a G-man there’s nothing illegalGee, would I like to be a G-man
And go bang, bang, bang
Say you won’t talk, huh,
Bang, bang, bang
Out of the way bud, let me get in that picture,
Bang, bang, bang