READ THIS: Yip Harburg Legendary Lyricist and Human Rights Activist by Harriet Hyman Alonso Our Coverage Sponsored by Stribling and Associates
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For anyone that loves New York, this exciting new book by Wesleyan Press is a must-read on Yip Harburg! The biography is not only well-written, but also just bursting with brilliant stories and facts about New York and the embodiment of the American dream, one of our favorite themes at Whom You Know. Yip, known as Broadway's social conscience, was truly a gifted individual that is someone that you should learn about. Many remember composers, but not as many remember lyricists and they should, especially when they come as talented as Yip, and even more so when they work so hard to reach their dreams, overcoming adversity such as losing a young brother to cancer and starting his career as a lamplighter for the Edison company.
As the lyricist of "Over the Rainbow", Yip Harburg remains relatively unknown as a name. But not as an entity. His friends were Gershwin, Arlen, the greats of Broadway, radio, vaudeville and Hollywood. Before 1937 was over, Mr. Harburg had written the lyrics for no fewer that fifty-six projects. Most of them live in our hearts, as well as in our minds. Over the Rainbow gained a unique following because of the time, the film itself, and the voice that made it famous, Miss Judy Garland. But Mr. Harbug had a simplistic upbringing, legendary to folk of New York City today, with a childhood in the Lower East Side. The stuff of legend was born in Brooklyn, and New York City in those days, pre-Depression, while kids still played in the stickball streets, and jumped into the East River for fun on a hot summer day. Bred from those streets, and ever facile with a pen as a wordsmith, Yip Harburg ruled the sound waves with his lyrics. He turned out the most lyrics, and became the stable co-writer of iconic numbers from the era. He claimed that the Great Depression was the best thing that ever happened to him, as he was forced out of business into the business of music. Our gain, to be sure. From vaudeville to Hollywood (and we include the Yiddish theatre in there too), Yip Harbug honed his craft and made America happy again. With quotes from public interviews, intersticed with yarns and commentary, Harriet Hyman Alonso brings us the soul of one of America's forgotten names. We know his music, his words, his heart, and now we know the man, thanks to Wesleyan Press. In this freezing weather, remember April in Paris is just around the corner and why not spend some time reading about the man that penned those lyrics until it warms up? Bravo Harriet Hyman Alonso and Wesleyan University Press!
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Yip Harburg
Legendary Lyricist and Human Rights Activist
by Harriet Hyman Alonso
328 pp. 16 illus. 6 x 9”
“Words…make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. But a song makes you feel a thought.” These wise words came from the mouth of brilliant lyricist Yip Harburg, most famous for writing the lyrics for “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” and “Over the Rainbow,” as well as the rest of the songs in The Wizard of Oz. His work for Broadway and Hollywood musicals is substantial and memorable, although some may not recognize his name. Part of Wesleyan University Press’s Music/Interview series, this new biography includes nearly fifty previously unpublished interviews with Harburg. Author Harriet Hyman Alonso ties the interviews together brilliantly, illustrating this remarkable lyricist’s life and his contributions to music, theater, and film.
The interviews reveal Harburg’s life and work through his own words. Although the two never met, the book is a collaboration of sorts between Harburg and Alonso, a historian who gives cultural context to Harburg’s work. Readers get a true sense of the immensely talented and warmhearted man responsible for Broadway shows Bloomer Girl and Finian’s Rainbow, and
well-known songs “April in Paris” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon.” Alonso also looks at Harburg’s life as a human rights activist. His lyrics frequently offered commentary on the injustices of race, gender, and class discrimination, as well as the follies of war and the nuclear arms race. Harburg wrote lyrics about the causes he believed in and was an outspoken organizer of the Hollywood Democratic Committee. Yip Harburg places his work in the context of mid-twentieth century American history and includes his reflections on the Great Depression, World Wars I and II, the McCarthy era, and his blacklisting during that period.
In addition to the interviews, the book also includes compelling lyrics from twenty-eight songs that Harburg wrote for composers like Jay Gorney, Vernon Duke, Harold Arlen, Burton Lane, Sammy Fain, and Earl Robinson.
Harriet Hyman Alonso is a professor of history at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is also a proud longtime member of the Peace History Society.
About Us
Wesleyan University Press has an editorial program that focuses on poetry, music, dance, science fiction studies, film-TV, and Connecticut history and culture.
Publishing in its current form since 1957, Wesleyan University Press has published an internationally renowned poetry series, collecting five Pulitzer Prizes, a Bollingen, and two National Book Awards in that one series alone.
The mission of Wesleyan University Press is to develop and maintain a sound and vigorous publishing program that serves the academic ends and intellectual life of the University.
