The song "Brother, can you spare a dime?" shows us a beggar talking back to the system that stole everything from him. This man had been rich and respected before the Great Depression broke out. The song does not rely on the trope "I'm poor and bitter, please give me a dime". Instead, the song aims at making people think and reflect.
It uses the beggar's point of view to communicate the hardships and trials experienced by him and by many other Americans, thus connecting with the men that built the nation: the railroads, the skyscrapers, who gave everything for the nation and when they were no longer needed, they ended up on the bread lines.
