Unknown author · Public domain

The lyricist who put the Depression into three minutes of song with "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" and then, a few years later, wrote every lyric in The Wizard of Oz, including "Over the Rainbow." Born Isidore Hochberg, he paired unpretentious, singable lines with pointed social commentary throughout his career, championing labor unions and racial and gender equality at a time when Tin Pan Alley rarely mixed politics with popular song.