One of the disadvantages of living in this current age of decline, it seems to me, is the shoddy quality of our suffering. Back in the Great Depression, which my parents remembered well, they at least came up with a few amusing songs to cheer them up. My favorite is the one above, “Let’s Have Another Cup of Coffee,” written by Irving Berlin for a musical comedy called “Face the Music,” which opened in 1932. It was sung in an automat (self-service restaurant) by a group of former society types, now down on their luck. The topical references should be fairly understandable to anyone who knows a modicum of American history. I refuse to believe we have any readers who won’t get them.

I wanted a nice live performance video to share with you, but couldn’t find one that satisfied my exacting requirements. So this one has a picture of the original record label.

You do know what a record was, don’t you?