Irving Berlin - "When That Man Is Dead And Gone" (1941)

On February 1st, 1941 on the radio show ASCAP On Parade a new song by Irving Berlin was introduced to the public: "When That Man Is Dead And Gone". According to the New York Times this "timely spiritual" was one of the "highlights" of the program

[...]
When that man is dead and gone
When that man is dead and gone
We’ll go dancing down the street
[...]

On the morning when we read,

That that man is dead and gone,

We've got a date to celebrate,
On the day we catch up with that one man spreading hate
His account is overdrawn.
All his chances are in pawn.
Some fine day the news will flash,
Satan with a small moustache
Is asleep beneath the lawn,
When that man his dead and gone.

Of course the "satan with a small moustache" was easy to identify. The NYT with its usual understatement only commented that this song was "generally believed to have Hitler in mind, though his name is not mentioned" (NYT, 2.2.1941, 22.2.1941)

In the years before WWII Irving Berlin was the politically most active popular songwriter. His daughter later wrote:

“For my parents, though, the war in Europe remained frighteningly close [...] they genuinely believed, in the summer and fall of 1940 and well into the next year, that the Germans would win [...] Eventually, so they went their worst imaginings, he would conquer England, then Canada, then ‘make an arrangement’ with the United States that would amount to conquest [...] Politics became the stuff of their lives" (Barrett, p. 186)

Irving Berlin and his wife - “a couple with a mission” (Barrett, p. 186) - took a very pronounced stand during these years. Actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. later remembered that the “American Jews [...] would, of course, risk beeing attacked as warmongers [...] if they supported anti-Nazi movements”. (Carr, p. 160). Nonetheless Berlin was for example busy assisting European refugees, helping out the British War Relief Society and became member of the Committee To Defend America By Aiding The Allies. In 1940 the Berlins campaigned once more for President Roosevelt and he “seemed to be spending all his time singing ‘God Bless America’ at civic events” (Barrett, p. 188). "God Bless America", published in November 1938 to "wake up America", had become the theme song of the pro-British and anti-German internationalists.

Months before Pearl Harbour Berlin wrote benefit songs in support of his government’s efforts for defense, for example in June 1941 “Any Bonds Today?” and “Arms For The Love Of America” (available on YouTube) . Those songs were not simple patriotic ditties but at that time outright political statements. The same can be said for his two songs performed at the ASCAP program. The other one was "A Little Old Church In England", a touching ballad reminding of war-harassed Britain.

"When That Man Was Dead And Gone" was performed once again three weeks later at a benefit show for the British War Relief Society by the St. Elmo Johnson Choir (NYT, 22.2.1941) and was also recorded by some popular artists, for example Mildred Bailey and Glenn Miller.

Literature & Sources:

• Mary Ellin Barrett, Irving Berlin. A Daughter’s Memoir, New York 1994
• Steven Carr, Hollywood & Anti-Semitism. A Cultural History Up To World War II, Cambridge & New York 2001
• New York Times, 02.02.1941: Two New Berlin Songs Are Heard on Radio... (the song's lyrics are quoted from this article)
• New York Times, 22.02.1941: War Relief Show Attended by 6,200
• A part of the text used here was taken from my extensive essay on "God Bless America" (available on Justanothertune.com)