"If It Wasn't for the Irish and the Jews" is a song written in 1912 by the

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

duo

William Jerome William Jerome Flannery, September 30, 1865 – June 25, 1932) was an American songwriter, born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York of Irish immigrant parents, Mary Donnellan and Patrick Flannery. He collaborated with numerous well-known composers a ...

and

Jean Schwartz Jean Schwartz (November 4, 1878 – November 30, 1956) was a Hungarian-born American songwriter. Schwartz was born in Budapest, Hungary. His family moved to New York City when he was 13 years old. He took various music-related jobs including dem ...

. The lyrics reflect a common theme in comic songs of the era: the pairing of disparate ethnic groups, especially Irish and Jews.

References

External links

"If It Wasn't for the Irish and the Jews"
sung by Billy Murray, at the Library of Congress National Jukebox
"If It Wasn't for the Irish and the Jews"
1912 sheet music, in ''Francis G. Spencer Collection of American Sheet Music, American Melting Pot Collection'' at Baylor University 1912 songs Songs with music by Jean Schwartz Songs with lyrics by William Jerome {{1910s-song-stub