Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

E301164

Great Depression-era song popular song song

"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" is a famous Great Depression-era American song that poignantly captures the disillusionment and hardship of unemployed workers.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? canonical	3
"Brother, can you spare a dime?"	1
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime	1
Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2824431 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Context triple: [E. Y. Harburg, notableWork, Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?]

A. Yankee Doodle Dandy
Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American musical biographical film starring James Cagney as songwriter George M. Cohan, celebrated for its patriotic songs and Cagney’s Academy Award-winning performance.
B. Lady, Be Good
"Lady, Be Good" is a 1924 Broadway musical comedy with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin, best known for its hit songs and for featuring Fred Astaire in one of his early major stage roles.
C. Alexander's Ragtime Band
"Alexander's Ragtime Band" is a hugely popular 1911 ragtime song that helped launch Irving Berlin's career and became one of the early standards of American popular music.
D. I Got Rhythm
"I Got Rhythm" is a popular jazz standard composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, renowned for its catchy melody and influential chord progression widely used in jazz improvisation.
E. I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’
"I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’" is a cheerful, folk-influenced song from George Gershwin’s opera *Porgy and Bess*, celebrating contentment and spiritual wealth over material possessions.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Target entity description: "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" is a famous Great Depression-era American song that poignantly captures the disillusionment and hardship of unemployed workers.

A. Yankee Doodle Dandy
Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American musical biographical film starring James Cagney as songwriter George M. Cohan, celebrated for its patriotic songs and Cagney’s Academy Award-winning performance.
B. Lady, Be Good
"Lady, Be Good" is a 1924 Broadway musical comedy with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin, best known for its hit songs and for featuring Fred Astaire in one of his early major stage roles.
C. Alexander's Ragtime Band
"Alexander's Ragtime Band" is a hugely popular 1911 ragtime song that helped launch Irving Berlin's career and became one of the early standards of American popular music.
D. I Got Rhythm
"I Got Rhythm" is a popular jazz standard composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, renowned for its catchy melody and influential chord progression widely used in jazz improvisation.
E. I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’
"I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’" is a cheerful, folk-influenced song from George Gershwin’s opera *Porgy and Bess*, celebrating contentment and spiritual wealth over material possessions.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (45)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Great Depression-era song ⓘ popular song ⓘ song ⓘ
addresses	broken promises of prosperity ⓘ economic inequality ⓘ veterans’ plight ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Brother, Can You Spare a Dime ⓘ linked to: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime? ⓘ linked to: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
associatedWithEvent	Wall Street Crash of 1929 aftermath ⓘ
composer	Jay Gorney ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
culturalSignificance	anthem of the Great Depression ⓘ classic American standard ⓘ
firstPerformanceYear	1932 ⓘ
genre	political song ⓘ popular music ⓘ protest song ⓘ
hasFamousLine	"Brother, can you spare a dime?" ⓘ linked to: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? "They used to tell me I was building a dream" ⓘ
hasInfluenceOn	later protest music in the United States ⓘ
historicalContext	early 1930s United States ⓘ
includedIn	American songbook ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
lyricalSubject	former worker ⓘ unemployed veteran ⓘ
lyricist	Yip Harburg ⓘ linked to: E. Y. Harburg
narrativePerspective	first person ⓘ
notableRecordingBy	Al Jolson ⓘ Bing Crosby ⓘ Rudy Vallée ⓘ
originalMedium	Broadway musical revue ⓘ
publicationYear	1932 ⓘ
setIn	United States during Great Depression ⓘ linked to: Great Depression
symbolizes	betrayal of workers ⓘ collapse of economic security ⓘ
theme	American Dream ⓘ Great Depression ⓘ disillusionment ⓘ economic hardship ⓘ unemployment ⓘ
timePeriodDepicted	Great Depression ⓘ
typeOf	social commentary song ⓘ
usesMusicalStyle	jazz-influenced harmony ⓘ minor key melody ⓘ
writtenFor	musical revue Americana ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

E. Y. Harburg → notableWork → Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? ⓘ

Yip → notableWork → Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? ⓘ

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? → alsoKnownAs → Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime? ⓘ

linked to: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? → alsoKnownAs → Brother, Can You Spare a Dime ⓘ

linked to: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? → hasFamousLine → "Brother, can you spare a dime?" ⓘ

linked to: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Jay Gorney → notableWork → Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? ⓘ

All labels observed (4)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (45)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (6)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited