Lyrics and Themes
The song tells the narrative of a woman who is complaining about her partner's apparent financial insolvency. She states that he was financially well off in 1922, but now has nothing. She claims it is because he wasted it on other women, and that these lovers will no longer show any interest in him now that he's poor. She claims that he tricked her into a relationship where all he has to offer her is 'a drink of gin'. She ends each verse asking why the man doesn't 'do right' by her, and then throws him out, insisting that he go earn a living in order to support her.
The song has its roots in blues music and deals with themes that were common following the Great Depression and prohibition: the narrator is suggesting that the man is destitute because he has been used by other women, then demands money from him for her benefit.
Read more about this topic: Why Don't You Do Right?
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