When Were "The Days?"

Re-run from 02.20.06
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Click Picture to Hear Song.
I'll write about the second mayoral debate later.

Even though I only have "broadcast level" cable, TV Land Network 'bleeds' into my cable service somehow and I get to watch it fuzzy for free. (Fox "News" also comes in, but perfectly clear- an obvious Adelphia conspiracy.) "All in the Family" is one of my favorite shows on TV Land. The IMDB Plot Outline: "A working class bigot constantly squabbles with his family over the important issues of the day."

On one episode I saw recently, a Jewish militant was killed by a car bomb while Archie, Gloria and Mike watched in horror. I'm not kidding. It's amazing to see what passed for comedy in the seventies. Well, not that scene specifically, but you know what I mean. Sitcoms were more hard-hitting then, than the news is today.

Anyway. I started ruminating about the theme song "Those were the Days" written by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams for the show which ran from 1971-1979. Everyone who knows the show is familiar with the song's performance by Carroll O'Connor and Maureen Stapleton at the opening of each episode. But have you ever really thought about the lyrics? When exactly were "the days" they're singing about?

My analysis of the lyrics:

Boy, the way Glenn Miller played!(1)
Songs that made the Hit Parade. (2)
Guys like us, we had it made. (3)
Those were the days! (4)

And you knew where you were then.
Girls were girls and men were men. (5)
Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again. (6)

Didn't need no welfare state. (7)
Everybody pulled his weight. (8)
Gee, our old LaSalle ran great. (9)
Those were the days! (10)

(1) Big Band Musician Glenn Miller lived 1904-1944.
(2) The "Hit Parade" was a radio show from 1935-50. Sort of a precursor to "American Bandstand."
(3) The first in a series of 'male-normative' phrases with sexist overtones.
(4) When were the days? So far they must have been between 1935-1944 to include Glenn Miller & "Hit Parade."
(5) The second sexist phrase, this time juxtaposing male maturity with female infantilization.
(6) Hoover's presidency (1929-1934) saw the Depression begin. He lived 1879-1964.
(7) That's a double-negative. It means they DID need a "welfare state."
(8) Third sexist phrase. Use of the pronoun "his" implies that the speaker believes "everybody" doesn't include women.
(9) Cadillac LaSalle (named for French explorer) An American car produced from 1927 to late 1950s.
(10) When were the days? Apparently they didn't exist. Hoover was out office before the "Hit Parade" was ever on the radio. What is this crap? Didn't anybody bother to tell Norman Lear?

Click here to here the song again.