Talk:Yip Harburg

Cleanup

The lyrics and accompanying POV made a mess of the article. This is not a fan site! Tried to make better order of the sections.

There's a major gap between the early 60s and Harburg's death, which someone needs to fill. J M Rice (talk) 20:02, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Mention his poem?

The article doesn't mention his poem "On That Great Civilized Morning", a fairly bitter satire that criticizes the condescending attitudes Westerners showed to the independence of African countries in the 1960s. The poem became lyrics (along with lyrics by Pete Seeger often called "Wimoweh") for a song by the Chad Mitchell Trio called "An African Song (On That Great Civilized Morning)" which was popular enough to make it onto The Best of the Chad Mitchell Trio. Is that notable enough to be mentioned in this article, and if so, where do you think it would fit in best? Jwrosenzweig (talk) 08:19, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

The article needs a general discussion of Yip's poetry. Possibly that poem would merit inclusion, and if so it would be worth mentioning its adaptation. Dave Schweisguth (talk) 12:38, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

Communist?

An IP editor added two sources which he thought confirmed that Harburg was Communist and a member of the CPUSA. This is not claimed in more authoritative sources. See Leigh Donaldson "Yip Harburg: Father of the Socially Conscious Lyric", Gene Lees The musical worlds of Lerner and Loewe, p.153, and the Songwriter's Hall of Fame article. So I think that issue has been cleared up.

He was blacklisted though, a member of socialist organisations, a supporter of the popular front in the 1930s and, according to his son, an opponent of tyranny. Philip Cross (talk) 10:40, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

I have started a passage relating to his blacklisting. A common error, but Donaldson is wrong to imply HUAC, a Committee of the House of Representatives, was "Senator Joe McCarthy‘s committee". Philip Cross (talk) 14:13, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

What is a "more authoritative sources," then. You judge it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.31.47.92 (talk) 10:07, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Where are your sources? You falsified the material sourced from Gene Lees, and inserted a POV: "as a good comrade appropriately should do". I reverted your edit. Philip Cross (talk) 10:26, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

My source is the verdict and of the legal authority. That has not been legally challenged and overturned. this is the official judgment. I undo you edit. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.31.47.92 (talk) 11:59, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Where are your citations? Philip Cross (talk) 12:14, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Your assertive reaching and modifying the article and saving it frequently in interval portions to eliminate those two verifiable sources, which belong to Yip's son and very authoritative Morning Star does not help to change the reality of the shinning life of Yip Harburg. At first attempt you deleted the Wikipedia link to Morning Star in an attempt to reduce it to just another random page on the Internet. From your background contributions I wonder how you decided to improve this article. Please stop. My Source is the verdict of HUAC naming him explicitly as a communist. Findings of that committee has been verified frequently. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.31.47.92 (talk) 12:38, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

The Morning Star has a vested interest in identifying him with the CPUSA, and so does the "Peopkle's World", which claims to be a descendant of the American Daily Worker, a Communist newspaper. Neither of them count as reliable sources clearly written by someone familiar with the lives and careers of the American songwriters, unlike the sources I have added in the last day. None of them say he was a member of the CPUSA. Whatever conclusions were drawn from the HUAC hearings are not going to be very reliable, even if your assertion is confirmed. You still have cited no sources, despite claiming "findings of that committee has been verified frequently".

What do you mean by my "background contributions?" Philip Cross (talk) 13:19, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Ain't It the Truth

I removed the mention of that deleted song from the list entry for Cabin in the Sky:

• The deletion is covered in the article on the film.
• Mentioning only that song is somewhat misleading, as it suggests that it was Arlen & Harburg's only contribution to that film. They contributed other songs to that film which were used.
• The mention is also misleading in that, although the song does express religious skepticism, that was probably not the reason it was cut, or not the only reason. See the article on the film. Harburg's atheism is well covered elsewhere in this article.

dschweisguth (talk) 14:58, 25 May 2025 (UTC)