Carrie Jacobs-Bond

Although hers is no longer a household name, during her lifetime Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Carrie Jacobs-Bond (1862-1946) was not only internationally recognized, but she became the first woman to earn a million dollars through her sheet music sales. Widowed and penniless at age 33, Jacobs-Bond began submitting songs to publishers hoping to support herself and her young son, but when this didn't work out as well as she'd hoped she started her own publishing company, with the financial support of the popular American contralto Jessie Bartlet Davis. Chiefly penning her own lyrics, Jacobs-Bond is best remembered for I Love You Truly (first published 1901 but written several years earlier) and (The End of) A Perfect Day (1910), but she also collaborated with African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) on five songs. Jacobs-Bond toured as a singer, including two appearances at the White House (first for Teddy Roosevelt and then for Warren Harding), and she sang in a concert in England that featured famed Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. Carrie performed for the troops in Europe during World War I, and in 1940 she shared the stage in support of the World War II effort with songwriting luminaries including Irving Berlin and George M. Cohan, although, at age 78, she did not sing her songs herself but played the piano accompaniment.

Dating from 1910, Carrie Jaconbs-Bond wrote the advice as well as the music for her charming Half Minute Songs, or, Miniature Songs.

1. Making the Best of It.

What you can’t help,

Forget!

2. First Ask Yourself.

Before you have said it about them,

Ask yourself if you’d like them to know you said it.

3. To Understand.

To understand a sorrow,

You must have one all your own.

4. Doan’ Yo’ Lis’n.

No mattah w’at dey said,

Keep a-walkin’ straight ahaid,

W’y dey’ll praise yo’ when yo’ daid,

But doan’ yo’ lis’n.

5. How to Find Success.

The man who finds success looks sometimes when he’s tired,

When he’s tired, when he’s tired,

Looks sometimes when he’s tired.

6. The Pleasure of Giving

I’d rather say “You’re welcome” once, than “Thank you” a thousand times.

6. Answer the First Rap.

Opportunity may knock often, but it’s better to answer the first rap!

8. A Good Exercise.

With evil things you’ll always find

It’s best to be deaf, dumb and blind.

9. A Present from Yourself.

A friend is a present you give yourself.

10. Now and Then.

The “lucky” fellow gets up at five (A.M.),

And gen’rally works till ten (P.M.);

But the other fellow not quite so “lucky,”

Works hard–just now and then!

11. When They Say the Unkind Things.

Ain’t it gay that what “they say”

Can’t hurt you unless it’s true?

12. Keep Awake.

Success never comes to the sleeping.

CLICK HERE to hear Patricia Werner Leanse sing them on YouTube.