WIST Quotations

Harburg, E. Y. -- “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?,” in the musical New Americana (1932)

Dave — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:20:06 +0000

Once I built a railroad, made it run,
Made it race against time.
Once I build a railroad, now it’s done.
Brother, can you spare a dime?

E. Y. "Yip" Harburg (1896-1981) American lyricist [Edgar Yipsel Harburg, b. Isidore Hochberg]
“Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?,” in the musical New Americana (1932)

Harburg, E. Y. -- “If I Only Had a Brain,” The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Dave — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 15:34:24 +0000

I could wile away the hours
Conferrin’ with the flowers,
Consultin’ with the rain;
And my head I’d be scratchin’
While my thoughts were busy hatchin’,
If I only had a brain.

E. Y. "Yip" Harburg (1896-1981) American lyricist [Edgar Yipsel Harburg, b. Isidore Hochberg]
“If I Only Had a Brain,” The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Harburg, E. Y. -- “It’s Only a Paper Moon” (1933) (co-written with Billy Rose)

Dave — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:05:28 +0000

Without your love
It’s a honky-tonk parade
Without your love
It’s a melody played in a penny arcade.
It’s a Barnum and Bailey world
Just as phony as it can be
But it wouldn’t be make-believe
If you believed in me.

E. Y. "Yip" Harburg (1896-1981) American lyricist [Edgar Yipsel Harburg, b. Isidore Hochberg]
“It’s Only a Paper Moon” (1933) (co-written with Billy Rose)

Harburg, E. Y. -- “Over the Rainbow” in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Dave — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:54:23 +0000

Somewhere over the rainbow,
Way up high,
There’s a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.

E. Y. "Yip" Harburg (1896-1981) American lyricist [Edgar Yipsel Harburg, b. Isidore Hochberg]
“Over the Rainbow” in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Harburg, E. Y. -- “The Agnostic” (1965)

Dave — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:57:10 +0000

No matter how I probe and prod
I cannot quite believe in God.
But oh! I hope to God that he
Unswervingly believes in me.

E. Y. "Yip" Harburg (1896-1981) American lyricist [Edgar Yipsel Harburg, b. Isidore Hochberg]
“The Agnostic” (1965)

Harburg, E. Y. -- “The Begat” in Finian’s Rainbow (1946)

Dave — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:21:59 +0000

The Lord made Adam,
The Lord made Eve,
He made ‘em both a little bit naive.

E. Y. "Yip" Harburg (1896-1981) American lyricist [Edgar Yipsel Harburg, b. Isidore Hochberg]
“The Begat” in Finian’s Rainbow (1946)

Harburg, E. Y. -- “When I’m Not Near the Girl I Love,” Finian’s Rainbow (1946)

Dave — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:25:01 +0000

When I’m not near the girl I love, I love the girl I’m near.

E. Y. "Yip" Harburg (1896-1981) American lyricist [Edgar Yipsel Harburg, b. Isidore Hochberg]
“When I’m Not Near the Girl I Love,” Finian’s Rainbow (1946)

Harburg, E. Y. -- Poem read in an interview

Dave — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:46:27 +0000

Lives of great men all remind us greatness takes no easy way.
All the heroes of tomorrow are the heretics of today.
Socrates and Galileo, John Brown, Thoreau, Christ, and Debs
Heard the night cry, “Down with traitors!” and the dawn shout, “Up the Reds!”

E. Y. "Yip" Harburg (1896-1981) American lyricist [Edgar Yipsel Harburg, b. Isidore Hochberg]
Poem read in an interview

Quoted in documentary "A Tribute to Yip Harburg: The Man Who Put the Rainbow in the Wizard of Oz" (25 Nov 2004)