Chapter 4: Tin Pan Alley
Many different types of songs flourished through Tin Pan Alley. Some genres were still recognizable from the 19th century, including sentimental ballads, patriotic songs, and songs rooted in the traditions of blackface entertainment. The vast majority of Tin Pan Alley songs were waltzes, composed in triple meter, which gave them a flowing, danceable rhythm well suited to parlor performance and social dancing. Romantic songs were among the most commercially successful, and most of them presented idealized images of love. In many of these songs, lovers were kept at a distance, often longing or reminiscing rather than interacting. Examples include “Sweet Adeline” (lyrics by Richard H. Gerard, music by Harry Armstrong) and “You Tell Me Your Dream and I'll Tell You Mine” by Charles N. Daniels. While most depictions of women in these songs were sentimental and proper, there were occasional exceptions. Paul Dresser’s “My Gal Sal” (1905), for instance, describes a woman who is “a wild sort of devil” and the narrator’s “old pal.” Sal is portrayed less as a romantic ideal and more as a companion—a notable departure from the norms of the genre.
Tin Pan Alley songs also frequently depicted specific geographic places, helping to evoke nostalgia or civic pride. Songs like “The Sidewalks of New York” and “Meet Me in St. Louis,” the latter celebrating the 1904 World’s Fair, painted musical portraits of bustling cities and hometown charm. Some songs aimed to evoke ethnic communities, particularly Irish American neighborhoods, as in “Daisy Bell,” “In the Good Old Summertime,” and “My Wild Irish Rose.” These songs often drew on ethnic stereotypes and caricatures, reflecting both the growing population of immigrants in America at the time as well as biases held against them.
Coon Songs
Blackface minstrelsy remained a popular form of entertainment well into the twentieth century, and popular songs were frequently featured in or adapted from minstrel troupes’ performances. By the turn of the century, blackface minstrelsy was so entrenched in American culture that it included both white performers in blackface and, increasingly, Black performers as well, although the two groups did not share the stage. Because performance opportunities for Black musicians were limited, many Black performers participated in minstrel shows despite the degrading nature of the material. Though many likely felt conflicted about portraying caricatures like Jim Crow or Zip Coon, such performances were among the few avenues available for professional musical careers.
A particularly troubling offshoot of minstrelsy was the genre of "coon songs," named after a racial slur. These songs focused on demeaning stereotypes of Black men, often portraying them as lazy, foolish, dangerous, and driven by vice. With titles like "All Coons Look Alike to Me" and "Gimme Ma Money," many Coon Songs often included insulting portrayals of black characters who sang about watermelon, fried chicken, liquor, and gambling. Common themes included gambling, drinking, and sexual impropriety, and the songs relied on cheap gags, racial epithets, and exaggerated dialects to provoke laughter and sell sheet music. Despite this toxic landscape, a few Black composers were able to find commercial success. James Bland, for example, became the first widely successful Black singer-songwriter with hits such as "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny." Still, the overwhelming majority of coon songs were written and published by white musicians, and the genre illustrates how racism was not just reflected but actively monetized in early American popular music.