{"id":6696,"date":"2017-05-01T00:48:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T04:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=6696"},"modified":"2023-03-14T14:51:15","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T18:51:15","slug":"2018-a-century-of-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=6696","title":{"rendered":"2018 – A Century of Progress (?)"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Ignore above publish date – this was published on November 2, 2018)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today – November 2 – would have been my father\u2019s 97th birthday. It is also El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). As most of you know, it\u2019s not a spooky day like Halloween, but rather one that celebrates loved ones who are no longer with us.<\/span><\/p>\n

It also has nothing to do with this post\u2019s subject matter, which is a year older than Dad, but it\u2019s nice to throw him a shout-out on his birthday.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Also unrelated, but leading up to\u2026\u2026\u2026something): Yesterday, I received my complimentary contributor\u2019s copy of the brand new Metallica remastered deluxe box set that celebrates the 30th anniversary of their \u201c\u2026And Justice For All\u201d album (a couple of my photos are in it). It\u2019s got a TON of stuff in the box and costs a couple hundred dollars (thank you, Q-Prime Management).<\/span><\/p>\n

I had to rearrange things on a shelf to accommodate it – it\u2019s large and heavy. I have a lot of diverse collections on those shelves and one of the things I unearthed under a pile of other things was a piece of sheet music\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.from 1920!<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the front cover:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The song was published by Irving Berlin, Inc., but – as you can see – was not written by him.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Inside are the music and lyrics (click to enlarge):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Because the lyrics might not be fully-legible, I looked for them online to copy and paste here, but they were kind of jumbled paragraph-style – not lyric-style – so I typed them up:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EVERYBODY\u2019S ON THEIR WAY TO JERSEY<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(First Verse)<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a certain little state<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

No one thought was up-to-date<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Jokes about it made a lot of fun<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But folks are getting hunches<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Going there in bunches<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

A mighty mob has started on the run<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tho\u2019 small in size<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

That state is wise<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Nobody hesitates<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Its population soon will be<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The whole United States<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Second Verse)<\/span><\/p>\n

People living there are fine<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Each one has a friend named \u201cStein\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Anderson had better watch his step<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The cops are in a fury<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Each kitchen is a brewery<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

They brew those hops<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

That fill you full of pep<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From California, Massachusetts<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

People far and near<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

A train they take<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

To join the wake<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

And gather \u2018round the \u201cbier\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Chorus)<\/span><\/p>\n

Everybody\u2019s on their way to Jersey<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Everybody\u2019s going there to stay<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not to get the air<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

That they\u2019re going over there<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is something doing, something brewing<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

OH! BOY! Buckets of joy<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Three and a half percent in dear old Jersey<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Is not the dividends the bankers pay<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Just hop on a train and tell the man<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

That you want to go where they rush the can<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

For everybody\u2019s on their way to Jersey<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Hmmm\u2026\u2026\u2026..a little non-PC in that second verse – and what’s “rush the can”?)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I DID find a \u201cClick here to play this song\u201d link, but after downloading it and then having to convert it to another format, all I got was an instrumental. So if you read music and play, maybe you can sing along with the prior image.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the back cover, in case you want some Berlin song hits for your Talking Machine or Player-piano:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Back to the front cover image: The very affluent-looking (and 100% MALE) Jersey-bound crowd of Mister Monopolys is split between two transportation choices after work in Manhattan: ferry or train (Hudson Tube under the Hudson River).<\/span><\/p>\n

The ferry bunch looks quite unhappy while the tubesters are quite the opposite. The much newer tube option appears to be the preferred choice\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..by far.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly 100 years later, contrast that with these recent images (I think they were taken this week and copyright credits go to CBS New York and PIX11 New York, respectively) of what seem to be an almost-daily occurrence in Manhattan with the trains to New Jersey (in this case, the ancient Portal Bridge in New Jersey was stuck in the open position – something that happens on a regular basis):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I don’t see any smiles.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is progress?<\/span><\/p>\n

Oy!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Well, there IS a little<\/em> progress…………….at least it’s not all male.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’m glad that – in my job – I only had to “commute” (by car) at night (though Alice Cooper DID do a lunchtime show in Times Square once).<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Ignore above publish date – this was published on November 2, 2018)   Today – November 2 – would have been my father\u2019s 97th birthday. It is also El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). As most of you know, it\u2019s not a spooky day like Halloween, but rather one that celebrates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6696"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18099,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6696\/revisions\/18099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}