The song asks why the men who built the nation - built the railroads , built the skyscrapers - who fought in the war ( World War I ) , who tilled the earth , who did what their nation asked of them should , now that the work is done and their labor no longer necessary , find themselves abandoned and in bread lines .
The song asks why the men who built the nation - built the railroads , built the skyscrapers - who fought in the war ( World War I ) , who tilled the earth , who did what their nation asked of them should , now that the work is done and their labor no longer necessary , find themselves abandoned , in bread lines .