Ain't We Got Fun

Last updated
Ain't We Got Fun
by Richard A. Whiting
Ain't We Got Fun 1b.jpg
Cover page to the sheet music
Genre Popular
Form Foxtrot
Textby Raymond B. Egan and Gus Kahn
Melodyby Richard A. Whiting
Performed1920 (1920)
Published1921
Ain't We Got Fun?
Recorded by Billy Jones in 1921 for Edison Records.

"Ain't We Got Fun" is a popular foxtrot published in 1921 with music by Richard A. Whiting, lyrics by Raymond B. Egan and Gus Kahn.

Contents

It was first performed in 1920 in the Fanchon and Marco revue Satires of 1920, then moved into vaudeville and recordings. "Ain't We Got Fun?" and its jaunty response to poverty and its promise of fun ("Every morning / Every evening," and "In the meantime, / In between time") have become symbolic of the Roaring Twenties, and it appears in some of the major literature of the decade, including The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and in Dorothy Parker's award-winning short story of 1929, "Big Blonde." The song also contains variations on the phrase "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer" (substituting, e.g., "children" for "poorer"); though this phrase predates the song, its use increased with the song's popularity.

Composition

"Ain't We Got Fun" follows the structure of a foxtrot. [1] The melody uses mainly quarter notes, and has an unsyncopated refrain made up largely of variations on a repeated four-note phrase. [2] [3] [4] The Tin Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia describes it as a "Roaring Twenties favourite" and praises its vibrancy, "zesty music," and comic lyrics. [5]

Philip Furia, connecting Kahn's lyrics to the song's music, writes that:

Not only does Kahn use abrupt, colloquial—even ungrammatical—phrases, he abandons syntax for the telegraphic connections of conversation. Truncated phrases like not much money are the verbal equivalent of syncopated musical fragments. [6]

Critical appraisals vary regarding what view of poverty the song's lyrics take. Nicholas E. Tawa summarizes the refrain "Ain't we got fun" as a "satirical and jaunty rejoinder" toward hard times. [2] Diane Holloway and Bob Cheney, authors of American History in Song: Lyrics from 1900 to 1945, concur, and describe the black humor in the couple's relief that their poverty shields them from worrying about damage to their nonexistent Pierce Arrow luxury automobile. [7]

Yet George Orwell highlights the lyrics of "Ain't We Got Fun" as an example of working class unrest:

All through the war and for a little time afterwards there had been high wages and abundant employment; things were now returning to something worse than normal, and naturally the working class resisted. The men who had fought had been lured into the army by gaudy promises, and they were coming home to a world where there were no jobs and not even any houses. Moreover, they had been at war and were coming home with a soldier's attitude to life, which is fundamentally, in spite of discipline, a lawless attitude. There was a turbulent feeling in the air. [8]

After quoting a few of the song's lines Orwell refers to the era as a time when "people had not yet settled down to a lifetime of unemployment mitigated by endless cups of tea," a turn of phrase which the later writer Larry Portis contests. [8] [9]

He [Orwell] could just as easily have concluded that the song revealed a certain fatalism, a resignation and even capitulation to forces beyond the control of working people. Indeed, it might be only a small step from saying, "Ain't we got fun" in the midst of hardship to the idea that the poor are happier than the rich—because, as the Beatles intoned, "Money can't buy me love." It is possible that "Aint We Got Fun," a product of the music industry (as opposed to "working-class culture") was part of a complex resolution of crisis in capitalist society. Far from revealing the indomitable spirit of working people, it figured into the means with which they were controlled. It is a problem of interpretation laying at the heart of popular music, one which emerged with particular clarity at the time of the English Industrial Revolution. [9]

However, others concentrate on the fun that they got. Stephen J. Whitfieldd, citing lyrics such as "Every morning / Every evening / Ain't we got fun," writes that the song "set the mood which is indelibly associated with the Roaring Twenties," a decade when pleasure was sought and found constantly, morning, evening, and "In the meantime / In between time." [10] Philip Furia and Michael Lasser see implicit references to sexual intercourse in lyrics such as "the happy chappy, and his bride of only a year." [11] Looked at in the context of the 1920s, an era of increasing sexual freedom, they point out that, while here presented within the context of marriage (in other songs it is not), the sexuality is notably closer to the surface than in previous eras and is presented as a delightful, youthful pleasure. [11] [12]

There are several variations on the lyrics. For example, American History in Song [7] quotes the lyrics:

They won't smash up our Pierce Arrow,
We ain't got none
They've cut my wages
But my income tax will be so much smaller
When I'm paid off,
I'll be laid off
Ain't we got fun?

The sheet music published in 1921 by Jerome K. Remick and Co. leaves this chorus out completely, [13] whereas a recording for Edison Records by Billy Jones keeps the reference to the Pierce Arrow, but then continues as in the sheet music: "There's nothing surer / The rich get rich and the poor get laid off / In the meantime,/ In between time/ Ain't we got fun?" [14]

Reception and performance history

It premièred in the Fanchon and Marco show Satires of 1920, where it was sung by Arthur West, then entered the vaudeville repertoire of Ruth Roye. [15] A hit recording by Van and Schenck increased its popularity, [15] and grew into a popular standard.

The song appears in the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel The Great Gatsby , when Daisy Buchanan and Gatsby meet again after many years, and the latter insists Klipspringer, his apparently permanent "guest," to play it for them. [10] [16] It also appears in Dorothy Parker's 1929 short story, "Big Blonde." [17] Warner Brothers used the song in two musicals during the early 1950s: The Gus Kahn biopic I'll See You in My Dreams and The Eddie Cantor Story . [15] Woody Allen used the song in his 1983 film Zelig . [18]

Notable recordings

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Razaf</span> American poet, composer and lyricist

Andy Razaf was an American poet, composer, and lyricist of such well-known songs as "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Mercer</span> American lyricist, songwriter, singer and record executive

John Herndon Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallichs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddy DeSylva</span> American songwriter, film producer and record executive

George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs, and along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tin Pan Alley</span> Collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City

Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally, it referred to a specific location on West 28th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the Flower District of Manhattan, as commemorated by a plaque on 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth. Several buildings on Tin Pan Alley are protected as New York City designated landmarks, and the section of 28th Street from Fifth to Sixth Avenue is also officially co-named Tin Pan Alley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gus Kahn</span> Musical artist

Gustav Gerson Kahn was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including "Pretty Baby", "Ain't We Got Fun?", "Carolina in the Morning", "Toot, Toot, Tootsie ", "My Buddy" "I'll See You in My Dreams", "It Had to Be You", "Yes Sir, That's My Baby", "Love Me or Leave Me", "Makin' Whoopee", "My Baby Just Cares for Me", "I'm Through with Love", "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and "You Stepped Out of a Dream".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard A. Whiting</span> American composer and songwriter

Richard Armstrong Whiting was an American composer of popular songs, including the standards "Hooray for Hollywood", "Ain't We Got Fun?" and "On the Good Ship Lollipop". He also wrote lyrics occasionally, and film scores most notably for the standard "She's Funny That Way".

Lazybones or "Lazy Bones" is a Tin Pan Alley song written in 1933, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Hoagy Carmichael.

"Too Marvelous for Words" is a popular song written in 1937. Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics for music composed by Richard Whiting. It was introduced by Wini Shaw and Ross Alexander in the 1937 Warner Brothers film Ready, Willing, and Able, as well as used for a production number in a musical revue on Broadway. The song has become a pop and jazz standard and has been recorded by many artists.

<i>By the Light of the Silvery Moon</i> (album) 1953 soundtrack album by Doris Day

By the Light of the Silvery Moon is a Doris Day album featuring songs from the movie of the same name. It was issued by Columbia Records as a 10" long-playing record, catalog number CL-6248 and as a 45rpm EP set, B-334.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Someone to Watch Over Me (song)</span> 1926 song by George and Ira Gershwin, Howard Dietz

"Someone to Watch Over Me" is a 1926 song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, assisted by Howard Dietz who penned the title. It was written for the musical Oh, Kay! (1926), with the part originally sung on Broadway by English actress Gertrude Lawrence while holding a rag doll in a sentimental solo scene. The musical ran for more than 200 performances in New York and then saw equivalent acclaim in London in 1927, all with the song as its centerpiece. Lawrence released the song as a medium-tempo single which rose to #2 on the charts in 1927.

"The rich get richer and the poor get poorer" is an aphorism attributed to Percy Bysshe Shelley. In A Defence of Poetry Shelley remarked that the promoters of utility had exemplified the saying, "To him that hath, more shall be given; and from him that hath not, the little that he hath shall be taken away. The rich have become richer, and the poor have become poorer; and the vessel of the State is driven between the Scylla and Charybdis of anarchy and despotism." It describes a positive feedback loop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond B. Egan</span>

Raymond Blanning Egan was a Canadian-born American songwriter of popular music. Many of his songs have appeared in films and musical theatre. He often collaborated with composer Richard A. Whiting.

"Day In, Day Out" is a popular song with music by Rube Bloom and lyrics by Johnny Mercer and published in 1939.

Henry MacGregor Woods was a Tin Pan Alley songwriter and pianist, he was a composer of numerous film scores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm Just Wild About Harry</span> 1921 song by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake

"I'm Just Wild About Harry" is a song written in 1921 with lyrics by Noble Sissle and music by Eubie Blake for the Broadway show Shuffle Along.

Philip George Furia was an American author and English literature professor. His books focus on the lyricists of the Tin Pan Alley era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo?</span> Song

"Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo?" is a song composed by Al Dubin, Irving Mills, Jimmy McHugh and Irwin Dash in 1924 and published by Jack Mills, Inc. It is a sequel to the popular World War I song, "Mademoiselle from Armentières," having the same refrain.

"She's Funny That Way" or "He's Funny That Way" is a popular song, composed by Neil Moret, with lyrics by Richard Whiting. It was composed for the short film Gems of MGM in 1929 for Marion Harris, but the film was not released until 1931. Harris sang it as "I'm Funny That Way".

Robert A. King was a prolific early twentieth century American composer, who wrote under pen names including the pen names, Mary Earl, Robert A. Keiser, and Betty Chapin.

References

  1. ↑ Fixing the Blame for Jazz by Edward C. Barroll From The Metronome of September 1922. Republished in Karl Koenig, ed. (2002). Jazz in Print (1856-1929): An Anthology of Selected Early Readings in Jazz History. Pendragon Press. pp. 205–206. ISBN   9781576470244 . Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  2. 1 2 Nicholas E. Tawa (2005). Supremely American: Popular Song in the 20th Century: Styles and Singers and What They Said About America . Scarecrow Press. p.  33 . Retrieved 2008-09-30. Ain't We Got Fun.
  3. ↑ Philip Furia (1992). The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America's Great Lyricists. Oxford University Press Press. ISBN   0-19-507473-4., page 76.
  4. ↑ Simon Frith (2004). Popular Music: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies. Routledge. p. 149. ISBN   9780415332699 . Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  5. ↑ Thomas S. Hischak (2002), The Tin Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia , Greenwood Press, ISBN   0-313-31992-8, page 8.
  6. ↑ Philip Furia (1990). The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America's Great Lyricists. Oxford University Press US. p. 76. ISBN   9780198022886 . Retrieved 2008-09-29.
  7. 1 2 Diane Holloway and Bob Cheney (2001). American History in Song: Lyrics from 1900 to 1945. iUniverse.com. pp. 203–204. ISBN   9780595193318 . Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  8. 1 2 George Orwell (1958). The Road to Wigan Pier. Taylor & Francis. pp. 140–141. ISBN   0547523017 . Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  9. 1 2 Larry Portis (2002). Soul Trains. Virtualbookworm Publishing. pp. 145–146. ISBN   9781589392205 . Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  10. 1 2 Stephen J. Whitfield (2001). In Search of American Jewish Culture. UPNE. pp. 94–95. ISBN   9781584651710 . Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  11. 1 2 Philip Furia, Michael Lasser (2006). America's Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley. CRC Press. p. 56. ISBN   9780415972468 . Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  12. ↑ Catherine Gourley (2007). Flappers and the New American Woman: Perceptions of Women from 1918 Through the 1920s . Twenty-First Century Books. p.  60 . Retrieved 2008-09-30. Ain't We Got Fun.
  13. ↑ Richard A. Whiting, Raymond B. Egan and Gus Kahn, (1921) Ain't We Got Fun , Jerome K. Remick and Co., New York
  14. ↑ Billy Jones (1921), performing "Ain't We Got Fun" by Richard A. Whiting, Raymond B. Egan and Gus Kahn, Edison Records Edison Blue Amberol #4309.
  15. 1 2 3 David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Taylor & Francis. pp. 203–204. ISBN   9780415937009 . Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  16. ↑ F. Scott Fitzgerald, (1925) The Great Gatsby , Project Gutenberg. (Chapter 5)
  17. ↑ Dorothy Parker's "The Big Blonde," in The Vicious Circle: Mystery and Crime Stories by Members of the Algonquin Round Table (2007), edited by Otto Penzler, published by Pegasus Books, ISBN   1-933648-67-8. p. 115.
  18. ↑ George Orwell (1995). Woody Allen on Woody Allen: In Conversation With Stig Bjorkman. Woody Allen, Stig Bjorkman. p. 273. ISBN   9780802134257 . Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  19. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p.  468. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
  20. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  21. ↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  22. ↑ Zimmer, Chris. "Law & Order SVU "Surrender Benson—Imprisoned Lives" Recap & Review". All Things Law & Order. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.