“Ain’t We Got Fun” was published in 1921 – music by Richard A. Whiting, lyrics by Raymond B. Egan and Gus Kahn (all members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame). It’s a boppin’ little number about how much fun it is to be poor, which may seem odd given the image of the Roaring Twenties as a time of relative prosperity before the fall to come with the Great Depression at the end of the decade. Alas, tough times were known even in this era.
The post–World War I recession was an economic recession that hit much of the world in the aftermath of World War I. In many nations, especially in North America, economic growth continued and even accelerated during World War I as nations mobilized their economies to fight the war in Europe. After the war ended, the global economy began to decline. In the United States, 1918–1919 saw a modest economic retreat, but the second part of 1919 saw a mild recovery. A more severe recession hit the United States in 1920 and 1921, when the global economy fell very sharply.
Wikipedia
Both the upbeat tempo and the jaunty lyrics would seem fairly obviously ironic, particularly with the rather “fun” observation that “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer (or laid off).” George Orwell even saw the song as indicative of post-WWI working class unrest. Some see it that way, others insist the mood of the song really is about how much fun can be had even amidst harder times.
I found this gem of an observation: “Although some citizens of the United States did not share in the good times [in the 1920s], most benefited from the country’s general economic prosperity. By and large, people had at least a little extra money in their pockets, and they also had a little more time to relax.” Wow. Rationalize much? Did this guy even listen to the lyrics? What I have not found is anything by the songwriters to explain their intention, but I’m thinking it’s not this.
A hit recording by Van and Schenck in 1921, featured below, helped to make it a popular standard. There appears to have been a lot of fooling around with the lyrics over time, but the original words don’t paint a particularly pretty picture.
As a bonus, leave it to Hollywood to bleach out all nuance as we see in this clip of Doris Day and Gordon MacRae from the 1953 movie By the Light of the Silvery Moon. Beautiful home, maid, well-dressed people everywhere, everybody looking pretty well taken care of making such that the lyrics about having not much money, unpaid rent, and owing the grocer seem a stretch, no?