"Good authors, too, who once knew better words now only use four-letter words writing prose... anything goes"

Cole Porter’s lyrics capture the anxieties and shifting cultural landscape of his era: a time when artistic standards, language, and decorum were undergoing significant transformation. By spotlighting "good authors" who "once knew better words" now relying on "four-letter words", Porter laments the apparent decline in eloquence, wit, and expressive vocabulary among contemporary writers. His reference to "better words" suggests a longing for a period when authors communicated with nuance, sophistication, and care, using language as an art form rather than as a mere blunt instrument.

The phrase "four-letter words" is a clear allusion to profanity, coarse, simple, and often transgressive language. Porter is not only critiquing writers for resorting to vulgarity but is also commenting on broader cultural trends. As he follows with "anything goes", he nods to a growing permissiveness in public expression, both in literature and society at large. Art, theater, and literature were shedding their old constraints, embracing honesty and rawness but, in Porter’s view, perhaps at the expense of grace and intellect.

Such a lamentation reflects anxieties about modernization, the erosion of traditional values, and the relentless pace of social change. Porter’s perspective aligns with long-standing generational fears: that new forms of self-expression debase serious art rather than enrich it. His playful yet critical tone highlights how language shapes culture; as our words shift, so too does the meaning we create and the respect we bestow upon art.

Yet, the lyric’s ambiguity also embraces the era’s liberation from prior stuffiness. While superficially mourning a loss, Porter is, in typical style, poking fun at the changing times, reminding audiences that boundaries and standards are always in flux, and that both nostalgia and progress coexist uneasily in artistic evolution.