Read the excerpt from the interview with E. Y. (Yip) Harburg. I was relieved when the Crash came. I was released. Being in business was something I detested. When I found that I could sell a song or a poem, I became me, I became alive. Other people didn’t see it that way. They were throwing themselves out of windows. Harburg was relieved when the crash occurred because it allowed him to become a man of leisure who did not have to work anymore. it forced him out of his comfort zone and into a brand new environment. it was easier to write songs about the Depression than about prosperity. it gave him the opportunity to develop and profit from his creativity.