Meaning Of Anything Goes By Jonathan Edwards

America at one time resembled a nation of sophistication and elegance. The population had a sense of morality and a set standard of values, though, through Prohibition, the Roaring Twenties, and the Great Depression, the cultural movements of the twenties and early thirties created a people with loose morals and racy tastes. The musical Anything Goes (1934), embodies the wish for what once was in its title song “Anything Goes” written by Cole Porter. Taunting lyrics criticizing American culture and the chaotic society in which the characters live defines “Anything Goes” as a true jeremiad.
“Anything Goes” critiques the immorality of the Roaring Twenties. Similar to Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Jonathan Edwards, “Anything Goes” comments on the shockingly immoral ways of the people. Describing the sinfulness and “wickedness” (Edwards) of the Puritan people,
Edwards urges them to pursue Christ and return to their holier ways. “Anything Goes” mimics Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by observing the risqué actions of the people and alluding to contentious changes during the twenties, like the dramatic rise of overt sexuality and discussions on this previously taboo subject. Figures like Mae West, who became known as a sex symbol by taking on roles that were considered to be controversial for the time, are included in Porter’s song to show the changes that the twenties embraced. Describing the alternative lifestyles heavily present during the Roaring Twenties and Prohibition era, Porter wrote, “If Mae West you like, or me undressed you like, why, nobody will oppose. When ev’ry night the set that’s smart is intruding in nudist parties in studios. Anything goes.” Porter illustrates the rapidly changing social ideology of the twenties and seems to long for the previous way of life by his one liner, “Anything goes.” The twenties certainly changed much about American culture and society, and in Porter’s view it completely turned the world upside down.
When Porter’s laments that “black’s white today, and day’s night today” he conveys his frustration about the unrecognizable world he perceives. A jeremiad that embodies similar points from Anything Goes, is Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Address. Reagan’s speech explores how America has lost its deep feeling of patriotism just before entering the nineties. Reagan declares, “If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are.” Porter’s song corresponds with Reagan’s speech, because both writers desire a happier time: in Porter’s case, the transformative time of the twenties was a time when “the world has gone mad and good’s bad.” Porter contributes the Great Depression to the American feeling of hesitancy and skepticism, which is manifested through Porter’s description of a poor man who “once had several chateaux”, but is now begging for money due to the economic crash. The feeling of uncertainty in the American public demonstrates how hectic the twenties truly
were. In addition, “Anything Goes” makes the point that modern inventions and the booming pace of the twenties created a mindless America. This satirical notion resembles Stephen H. Webb’s How Soccer is Ruining America: A Jeremiad, where Webb makes the argument that soccer is influencing American life a little too much, and forming a weak population through the lack of “energy, drive and competitiveness,” on which soccer emphasizes. Like Webb uses soccer as America’s downfall, Porter uses radios. He explains that radios are causing Americans to become more unintelligent, sardonically writing, “if any brains you’ve got.” Porter reflects on the time before the ‘intrusive noise’ of radios pointlessly plagued the air waves of the American public. Now, no one can escape the continuous sounds of the radio, infiltrating the silence of home life and even in the car. Porter’s longing for what once was a calming quiet is essential to his jeremiad music. “Anything Goes” laments for the time prior to the luxury and craziness of the twenties and serves to remind the listener to stay morally steady in a time of great excitement. Readers of jeremiads can learn much from them; jeremiads not only serve to teach readers about how life previous to them was lived, but can also teach readers how to experience successful and ethical lives. Jeremiads warn against future behavior that can be destructive to America, such as politics or economics, and can also teach on a personal level.