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"Supper Time" is a popular song written by
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...
for the 1933 musical '' As Thousands Cheer'', where it was introduced by
Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...
. The song is about racial violence inspired by a newspaper headline about a
lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
.


History

Berlin wrote the musical '' As Thousands Cheer'' with the librettist Moss Hart in Bermuda. Berlin's biographer,
Laurence Bergreen Laurence Bergreen (born February 4, 1950 in New York City) is an American historian and author. Career After graduating from Harvard University in 1972, Bergreen worked in journalism, academia and broadcasting before publishing his first biogr ...
, described it as "the best work he had ever done for the stage" and consisting of "nothing but hits". The score included the songs " Easter Parade", " Harlem on My Mind", "
Heat Wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...
" and "
How's Chances? "Hows Chances?" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the 1933 musical ''As Thousands Cheer'' where it was introduced by Marilyn Miller and Clifton Webb. In the musical, it is used in a sketch based on a newspaper headline "Joan Crawford ...
" in addition to "Supper Time". The musical was a satirical revue of recent events that had made news headlines with parodies of President
Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...
,
John D. Rockefeller Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in M ...
, Barbara Hutton,
Noel Coward Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places *Noel, Missouri, United States, a city * Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid *Mount Noel, Britis ...
, Edward, Prince of Wales, and
Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.


Context and composition

Berlin first met Waters in the spring of 1933 during her headlining appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Berlin was immediately impressed by Waters and wanted her for ''As Thousands Cheer''. Water's subsequent performance in ''As Thousands Cheer'' marked the first time that a black woman had ever starred in a Broadway musical. "Supper Time" was introduced by Waters as the second song of Act II of the musical. The song followed "Metropolitan Opening" a sketch about the economic woes of patrons at New York's
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...
during the recent
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Waters was depicted on stage standing next to a table in a shack set in the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
. The headline "Unknown Negro Lynched By Frenzied Mob" accompanied the song. Bergreen described the "Supper Time" as a "magnificently understated lament of the wife of the victim who must tell her children that they will never see their father again". Bergreen felt that the song was not a
protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...
as Berlin had "so personalized and muted the incendiary racial aspects of the event that what the song lost in bite it gained in universality". Waters said of the song that "If one song can tell the whole tragic history of a race, "Supper Time" was that song. In singing it I was telling my comfortable, well-fed, well-dressed listeners about my people...those who had been slaves and those who were now downtrodden and oppressed." Waters said that Berlin had "...wanted to do something dramatic to feel, to bring home to the people as a whole about the cruelty of mob violence". Berlin told Waters that he wanted her to "...show the agony of the family that's left behind" after a lynching and Waters felt that "...anything I do I can take a reference from my personal life". In performing the song Waters drew on her experience of staying with a family in Macon in Georgia. A man of the family had been lynched shortly before Waters' arrival in Macon and she spoke of the fact that "nothing was said, but oh the grief that, you know, and the fear. ...you never sensed the pall that comes over it. Oh, it was just—you could feel it. You didn't see nothing. This is an actual fact. I don't know if I can express it the way that I would without the Lord's help". Berlin later said that people told him he was "crazy to write a dirge like that", but felt that the satirical musical required a serious song. The song was inspired by the lynching of an African-American man in Florida that Berlin had read about. Jeffrey Magee writing in ''Irving Berlin's American Musical Theater'' in 2014 felt that the extended
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...
and the return to the principal phrase of "Supper Time" marked a "stroke of songwriting genius" with the repetition of the word 'Lord' forming the melodic peak of the song.


Reception

At the
tryout ''Tryout'' was an amateur press journal published from 1914 to 1946 by Charles W. Smith of Haverhill, Massachusetts. It was connected to the National Amateur Press Association. Smith (1852–1948) was a friend and correspondent of H. P. Lovecraf ...
for ''As Thousands Cheer'' at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia, three of the musical's stars, Helen Broderick, Marilyn Miller, and
Clifton Webb Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck (November 19, 1889 – October 13, 1966), known professionally as Clifton Webb, was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He worked extensively and was known for his stage appearances in the plays of Noël Coward, i ...
, refused to take a bow at the end of the show with Waters. Berlin told the three that as a result there would be no bows at the next performance, and they subsequently bowed with Waters at the next performance. Miller and Webb also complained to the producer of the musical,
Sam H. Harris Sam Henry Harris (February 3, 1872 – July 3, 1941) was a Broadway producer and theater owner. Career Sam Harris was born on Manhattan's Lower East Side to poor Jewish parents. After a stint as a cough drop salesman and boxing manager, Harris' ...
about the presence of "Supper Time" in the score as it jarred with their light-hearted song "Society Wedding". Harris insisted that the song would remain. Some reviewers were critical of the song.
Wolcott Gibbs Wolcott Gibbs (March 15, 1902 – August 16, 1958) was an American editor, humorist, theatre critic, playwright and writer of short stories, who worked for '' The New Yorker'' magazine from 1927 until his death. He is notable for his 1936 parody ...
writing for the '' New Yorker'' described himself as "mildly distressed" by "Supper Time" as it "definitely seemed to belong somewhere else...In Mr Harris's safe, possibly". John Mason Brown, reviewing the show for the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' wrote that "I do wish Miss Waters would find another song to take the place of "Supper Time", which neither fits her gifts nor fits into the general scheme of things...".


Notable recordings

*
Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...
- from the album '' Oscar Peterson Plays the Irving Berlin Songbook'' (1959) *
June Christy June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a so ...
- ''Through the Years'' (1995), ''
Cool Christy ''Cool Christy'' is a 2002 double-CD compilation of recordings by jazz vocalist June Christy from 1945 to 1951. Disc one # " Tampico" (Gene Roland) # "It's Been a Long, Long Time" ( Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn) # "It Ain't Necessarily So" (George Ge ...
'' (2002) *
Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
- '' Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook'' (1958) *
Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
- from The Judy Garland Show episode 26 that aired on 29 March 1964 * Judy Holliday - ''Holliday With Mulligan'' (1987) *
Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four act ...
from the album ''Happy Songs'' (2002) *
Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...
with Helen Forrest (1939) *
Carola Standertskjöld Carola Christina Standertskjöld-Liemola (23 March 1941 – 12 November 1997), professionally known as Carola, was a Finnish jazz and pop singer. Her style was partially inspired by American singers of the 1950s. Simultaneously, it was in the spi ...
from the album ''Carola & Heikki Sarmanto Trio'' (recorded 1966, issued 2004) *
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
from the album ''
People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
'' (1964). * Nancy Wilson - '' But Beautiful'' (1969)


References

* * {{Authority control 1933 songs Ethel Waters songs Lynching in the United States Songs about violence Songs from As Thousands Cheer Songs written by Irving Berlin Songs against racism and xenophobia