"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" - lyricist E. Y. "Yip" Harburg and composer Jay Gorney
Written for the 1932 musical revue "Americana,; the melody is based on a Russian-Jewish lullaby Gorney's mother had sung to him as a child.
It was considered by Republicans to be anti-capitalist propaganda, and almost dropped from the show; attempts were made to ban it from the radio. The song became best known, however, through recordings by Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee. They were released right before Franklin Delano Roosevelt's election to the presidency.
The Brunswick Crosby recording made on October 25, 1932 with Lennie Hayton and his Orchestra became the best-selling record of its period, and came to be viewed as an anthem to the shattered dreams of the era.