The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-03-22

=. ,r uo Una, a reaction was cply = /
turn out sweet, clean. dittiss" %
soothing rather than q stimr,.as
nature. We've got to follo~
popular mood. y
]1Now what is the popu,,r -.
ct present. little sober. c.nt,.
and chastened, is it not? Tia -
iessness and recklessness - y
war period have greatly suh..
We have quit being extrs,.ss.
and have settled down to ,ss
economy. We have a plain. ,s S.'
man OF. the most consermti,s sso
denotes for president. We A.. "a e
pressed. as We never were dr,. -
the war. by the gloomy prev.i..a
OF unemployment. Hence. what ~.
We beginning to sing, Ra,s..
piaintive songs about the peac. ~,
security of the home. the dien;ts ~ !,
true love, and the folly Of wicI.S
ness. NAea'
In the vaudeville theatre. q.
change is strikingly evident, r.. s
the past decade most yand.v sUl
sketches have been simply = n..sa
work Of slurs on the sacred STAT =,
matrimony. Now, in the hst,..
houses. these have ceased abrun,lr
and the domestic hearth is ass;,
surrounded by a lavender halo"
A Conservative Reaction.
This sudden change of mood ma,
have been facilitated by reform
propaganda. Our song writer 49,.
not deny that. But in his oninior
and he has watched and studisS
the whims of the public for wears
the pendulum was due to svi,,
back to the realm of conseryatism
anyway. That the music publisher,
did not anticipate its SO rapid No.
currence is shown by the fact ths,
the popular song market is nov
alarmingly dull. The season,
usual crop of song is not tati,s
hold as it should. Instead. thu ols
melodies, popular 20 years ago A.,
being resurrected and played every.
where. NEEDLES Of old-time Time,
are played and enthusiastically AZ.
plauded every evening in nearly N
OF the Broadway cabarets and res.
taurants in the White Way district
In the moving picture theatre,
Rosy O'Grady," THE Sidewalk Of
New York." "On the Bowery'
Johnny Get Your Hair Cut" and
1.-TWO Little Girls in Blue" are all
heard with great regularity and
never fail to provoke a storm Of
applause.
The other night, a girl whose
hardened visage showed the strain
OF many cabaret seasons, aston.
ished her audience by appearing
in a plain and modest white dress
and>singing that ancient classic By
Charles Graham, called 1.-THE Pic.
ture That is Turned Toward thu
WALL" of which the chorus runs:
There's a name that's neve,
! spoken and a mothers hear
half broken.
There's just another missing from
the old home, that is all.
There is still a memory living
there's a father unforgiving
And picture that is turned towar.
the wall"
1t is not expected that old song
Of this type will prove tremendous
ly popular now, but, on the who'll
l the old melodies are crowding bacl
| to life. New York hurdy-gurdie
have reinstated Rosy O'Grady" il
their repertoire. and copies 0
MY Sweetheart's the Man in tn
Moon" were recently on sale in
Broadway music store.
While the new songs recent
put on the market are not quite q
sentimental as the old ones, the
are Of the same sort Of plaintiy
refrain. They are not. however, a
good. The writer's themselves al
nit 1t. They cannot compete Wit
the song-writers of the 1S90-l9(
period, they claim, because the
live in an entirely different perio
which should and generally dot
demand an altogether different tyl
of song They have not. unfortul
ately, suffered the same reactiC
toward conservatism as has Il
song buying public. and their il
! clination is to go on writing lyri
of brisk, snappy and often bro;
quality. Meanwhile. they pr'
that the reformers will not take a.
vantage of the puhlic's present r
ceptive mood, and legislate out
existence all but permanently pui
fed songs.