دراسات معاصرة
Volume 10, Numéro 1, Pages 25-33
2026-06-02
Depression-era America In Song: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of “brother Can You Spare A Dime?” (1932)
Authors : Chouana Khaled .
Abstract
This study employs Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) on “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” (Bing Crosby, 1932) to examine manifest and latent meanings in the lyrics. The analysis considers instrumentation, historical context, and juxtaposes the song with James Truslow Adams’s The Epic of America (1931) which coined the term “American Dream.” The paper suggests that contrary to Adams, who used his book as an idealizing narrative to give Americans a sense of hope, Crosby’s song serves as a social critique highlighting the abandonment of the common people in the U.S. The song thus works as a musical counter-narrative, expressing anger and disappointment over promised prosperity during the Great Depression.
Keywords
American Dream ; Bing Crosby ; disillusionment ; Great Depression ; Qualitative Content Analysis
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