—From “Words with Music” by Earl Chapin May, from the October 18, 1924, issue of The Saturday Evening Post
The period between 1893 and 1918 has been frequently referred to as the golden age for the popular song. Today 20,000 song writers see the country going to the dogs. Only the optimistic among the bards of old Tin Pan Alley believe their once great industry can survive. Motor cars, jazz parlors, and radio stations have muted the words and music that kept the nation humming for generations.
Just now we are rampaging around in motor cars, dancing from morn to dewy eve and back to morn again, listening in on about 4,000,000 radio sets and flocking to the movies in millions. The groups that used to gather around the piano and do some close harmony in the front room are far from home and mother.
But human nature does not change. We shall come back to the simple life again, and when we do, the simple sentimental song will come back with us. Here’s hoping.
This article is featured in the September/October 2024 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
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