Yip Harburg

 ( 1896 Births ) 

He later adopted the name "Edgar Yipsel Harburg", and came to be best known as "Yip". It has been claimed that Harburg took the name "Yipsel" because it meant "squirrel" in Yiddish, but there is no such Yiddish word and it is likely that the name was derived from that of the Young People's Socialist League (1907), the youth group of the Socialist Party of America, whose members were called "yipsels".Forward, October 22, 2004

Harburg attended Townsend Harris High School, where he and Ira Gershwin, who bonded over a shared fondness for Gilbert and Sullivan, worked on the school paper and became lifelong friends. According to his son Ernie Harburg, Gilbert and Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw taught his father—a "democratic socialist, and sworn challenger of all tyranny against the people"—that "'humor is an act of courage' and dissent".Robert Mackey "BBC Won’t Ban ‘Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead,’ Adopted as Anti-Thatcher Anthem", "The Lede" (blog), New York Times, April 12, 2013

After World War I, Harburg returned to New York and graduated from City College (later part of the City University of New York), which Ira Gershwin had initially attended with him, in 1921. "E. Y. Harburg" , Songwriters Hall of Fame After Harburg married and had two children, he started writing light verse for local newspapers. He became a co-owner of Consolidated Electrical Appliance Company, but the company went bankrupt following the crash of 1929, leaving Harburg "anywhere from $50,000 – $70,000 in debt", which he insisted on paying back over the course of the next few decades. At this point, Harburg and Ira Gershwin agreed that Harburg should start writing song lyrics.

Gershwin introduced Harburg to Jay Gorney, who collaborated with him on songs for an Earl Carroll Musical theatre revue ( Earl Carroll's Sketchbook): the show was successful and Harburg was engaged as lyricist for a series of successful revues, including Americana in 1932, for which he wrote the lyrics of "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" to the tune of a lullaby Gorney had learned as a child in Russia. This song swept the nation, becoming an anthem of the Great Depression.

Harburg was a staunch critic of both high society and religion. He wrote a poem entitled "Atheist" that summarized his views on God.

Of his work on The Wizard of Oz, his son (and biographer) Ernie Harburg has said:

Working in Hollywood did not stop Harburg's career on Broadway. In the 1940s, he wrote a series of "book" musicals with social messages, including the successful Bloomer Girl (1944), set during the Civil War, which was about temperance and women's rights activist Amelia Bloomer, and which celebrated equality for women, Abolitionism, and the Underground Railroad. Harburg's best known Broadway show, Finian's Rainbow (1947) was, in its original production, possibly the first Broadway musical with a racially integrated chorus line. Its plot satirized American financial practices and criticized reactionist politicians, mistreatment of the working classes as well as racism and the Jim Crow laws. It was made into a film in 1968 starring Fred Astaire and Petula Clark, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Harburg was named in a pamphlet ; his involvement with the Hollywood Democratic Committee, and his refusal to identify reputed communists, led to him being blocked from working in Hollywood films, television, and radio for twelve full years, from 1950Leigh Donaldson "Yip Harburg: Father of the Socially Conscious Lyric", American Songwriter, April 17, 2011. to 1962.Scott Jacobs "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", The Week Behind, September 23, 2009 "As the writer of the lyric of the song 'God's Country', I am outraged by the suggestion that somehow I am connected with, believe in, or am sympathetic with Communist or totalitarian philosophy", he wrote to the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1950. He was unable to travel abroad during this period because his passport had been revoked.

Jamaica, a vehicle for Lena Horne, was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical in 1958.

Harburg was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972 and awarded its Johnny Mercer Award in 1981.

On March 7, 2001, the "Songs of the Century" poll conducted by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts ranked Judy Garland's rendition of "Over the Rainbow" as the number one recording of the 20th century.

On June 22, 2004, the American Film Institute broadcast AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs, a TV special announcing their selection of the 100 greatest film songs. "Over the Rainbow" was Number One, and "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" was Number 82.

In April 2005, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp recognizing Harburg's accomplishments. The stamp was drawn from a portrait taken by photographer Barbara Bordnick in 1978 along with a rainbow and lyric from "Over the Rainbow". The first day ceremony was held at the 92nd Street Y in New York.

• Earl Carroll's Sketchbook of 1929 (revue, 1929) - contributing lyricist
  (1996). 9780028704845, Schirmer Books. ISBN 9780028704845
• Garrick Gaieties (revue, 1930) - contributing lyricist
• Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1930 (revue, 1930) - contributing lyricist
• Simple Simon (musical, 1930) - contributing lyricist
• The Vanderbilt Revue (revue, 1930) - contributing lyricist
• Accidentally Yours (musical, 1931) - lyricist
• Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt (revue, 1931) - contributing lyricist
• Shoot the Works (revue, 1931) - contributing lyricist
• Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 (revue, 1931) - contributing lyricist
• Americana (revue, 1932) - lyricist
• Ballyhoo of 1932 (revue, 1932) - lyricist
• The Great Magoo (play, 1932) - co-lyricist
• Walk a Little Faster (revue, 1932) - lyricist
• Continental Varieties (revue, 1934) - contributing lyricist
• (revue, 1934) - co-lyricist with Ira Gershwin, co-bookwriter
• New Faces (revue, 1934) - contributing co-lyricist
• Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 (revue, 1934) - lyricist (for about half of the numbers)
• Stop Press (revue, 1935) - contributing lyricist
• The Show is On (revue, 1936) - contributing lyricist
• Hooray for What! (musical, 1937) - originator and lyricist
• Sticks and Stones (revue, 1939) - contributing lyricist
• Hold On to Your Hats (musical, 1940) - lyricist
• Bloomer Girl (musical, 1944) - originator, lyricist and director for musical numbers
• Blue Holiday (revue, 1945) - contributing lyricist
• Finian's Rainbow (musical, 1947) - originator, lyricist and co-bookwriter
• Flahooley (musical, 1951) and its revisions - originator, lyricist, and co-bookwriter
• Jamaica (musical, 1957) - originator, lyricist, co-bookwriter and co-director
• The Happiest Girl in the World (musical, 1961) - originator and lyricist
• Darling of the Day (musical, 1968) - lyricist
• The Children's Crusade (musical, 1971) - lyricist
• The Great Man's Whiskus sic (television show, 1973) - lyricist

See also Musicals by Yip Harburg.

• The Sap from Syracuse (1930, music by Johnny Green)
• Moonlight and Pretzels (1933, music by Jay Gorney and Sammy Fain)
• The Singing Kid (1936, music by Harold Arlen)
• Stage Struck (1936, music by Harold Arlen)
• Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936, music by Harold Arlen)
• The Wizard of Oz (1939, music by Harold Arlen)
• At the Circus (1939, music by Harold Arlen)
• Ship Ahoy (1942, music by Burton Lane)
• Cairo (1942, music by Arthur Schwartz)
• Cabin in the Sky (1943, music by Harold Arlen)
• Kismet (1944)
• Can't Help Singing (1944, music by Jerome Kern)
• California (1947, music by Earl Robinson)
• Gay Purr-ee (1962, music by Harold Arlen)
• Finian's Rainbow (1968, music by Burton Lane)

He wrote lyrics for original songs for many other films, and hundreds of additional films reused his songs.

• "April in Paris", with Vernon Duke (1932)
  (2025). 9780313319921, Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313319921
• "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", with Jay Gorney (1932)
• "It's Only a Paper Moon", with Harold Arlen (1933)
• "Last Night When We Were Young", with Harold Arlen (1935)
• "I Love to Sing-a", with Harold Arlen, for the film The Singing Kid (1936)
  (1999). 9780313307379, Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313307379
• "Down with Love", with Harold Arlen, for the musical Hooray for What! (1937)
  (1995). 9780313294075, Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313294075
• "Over the Rainbow", "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" and others, with Harold Arlen, for the film The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• "Lydia the Tattooed Lady", with Harold Arlen, for the film At the Circus (1939)
• "And Russia Was Her Name", with Jerome Kern, for the film Song of Russia (1943)
• "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe", with Harold Arlen, for the film Cabin in the Sky (1943)
• "The Eagle and Me", and "Right as the Rain" with Harold Arlen, for the musical Bloomer Girl (1944)
• "Free and Equal Blues", with Earl Robinson, performed by Josh White (1944)
• "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?", "Old Devil Moon" and others, with Burton Lane, for the musical Finian's Rainbow (1946)

See also Songs with lyrics by Yip Harburg.

• (1965). 9780670597345, Grossman. ISBN 9780670597345
• (1976). 9780517527276, Crown. ISBN 9780517527276
• (2025). 9781877733154, Freedom From Religion Foundation. ISBN 9781877733154
  Contains material from Rhymes for the Irreverent (1965) and At This Point in Rhyme, and previously unpublished poems.

• (2025). 9780819571281, Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819571281
• (2025). 9780976537236, Big Valley Press. ISBN 9780976537236

• Yip Harburg papers in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
• E. Y. Harburg collection of music (ca. 1929-1981), donated by E. Y. "Yip" Harburg, held by the Music Division
• E. Y. (Yip) Harburg papers (1913-1985), donated by Ernest Harburg, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division
• E. Y. Harburg papers (1936-1981), donated by Roderic Gorney, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division
• Ellyn Polshek collection of materials about Yip Harburg (1977-2005), donated by Ellyn Polshek, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division
• E.Y. Harburg Collection in the Yale University Library's Gilmore Music Library
• Yip Harburg Lyrics Foundation

• E. Y. Harburg at the Discography of American Historical Recordings

• Passport photo of Yip Harburg (1920)
• (undated)
• Somewhere Over the Rainbow ... Rhymes for the Irreverent, a Freethought Radio episode featuring an interview with Ernie Harburg on his father (2006)
• , an interview with Ernie Harburg about his father's commemorative stamp, his bar and restaurant, and that year's revival of Finian's Rainbow (2009)