From the Library of Congress:
“In February 1940, Guthrie wrote “This Land is Your Land” in reaction to Irving Berlin’s song “God Bless America.” Guthrie heard Berlin’s song repeatedly while he traveled cross-country and became increasingly annoyed that it glossed over the lop-sided distribution of land and wealth that he was observing and had experienced as a child. Although Guthrie was no statistician his observations accurately reflected the fact that, even in the depths of the Depression, nearly 20 percent of the nation’s wealth rested with one percent of its population.
Guthrie originally entitled his song “God Blessed America for Me,” a line repeated at the end of each verse. By the time he first recorded the song with Cisco Houston, in April 1944, he changed the lines to “This land was made for you and me,” which invokes the title by which his song has been known ever since — “This Land Is Your Land.” Amazingly Guthrie and Houston recorded over 160 songs during that prolific set of recording sessions. Since then “This Land Is Your Land” has been re-recorded by numerous vocal artists including: Bing Crosby, Judy Collins, Harry Belafonte, Fred Waring, Pete Seeger, and the Limeliters.
Sometime before April 1944 Guthrie removed the final verse he originally wrote for “This Land Is Your Land.” In its place he eventually wrote an additional verse that appeared in his 1946 mimeographed pamphlet entitled Ten Songs for Two Bits.”
Nobody living can ever stop me
As I go walking my Freedom Highway
Nobody living can make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
- Further Reading:
- Imagine – Central Park 1980
- The Oligarchy Versus the World
- Psoy Korolenko – Ekh Lyuli Lyuli
consider free RSS subscription
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I really used to enjoy a baseball game, treasure the few times I went to old (the house that Ruth built) Yankee stadium as a boy. But two things have turned me away from what used to be called a ‘pastoral game’. First the change of the ballpark into something resembling a rock concert arena — loud music assualting you constantly, horrible videos and advertisements in your face, and the long waits between innings and half-innings for the TV commercials to run. But what turned me off completely was when the custom started, after 9/11, of playing that awful show tune, belted out by that big mouth, Kate Smith, ‘God Bless America,’ and all the good ‘mercans standing with their hats off in their jingoistic, falsely pious and sincere patriotism (and watching to make sure you stood up too, and didn’t run off to concession stand to get away from it). A song which is nothing but a frickin’ SHOW TUNE!
HEY BRUCE,
GREAT LETTER.
I WISH YOU WERE PRESIDENT, THEN WE COULD GET RID OF ALL THE MUSIC WE DONT LIKE. I’M NOT FOND OF RAP.
MAYBE YOU CAN GET RID OF THE NEWS ITEMS YOU DON’T LIKE TOO.
PATRIOTISM IS ANOTHER ISSUE. THERE ARE STILL THOSE ANNOYING PEOPLE THAT BELIEVE IN THE PRINCIPLES THAT THE COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON. NOT NECESSARILY THE WAY THEY ARE AT TIMES CORRUPTED, BUT THEY EVENTUALLY GET STRAIGHTEND OUT.
DON’T BE DISHEARTENED, YOU CAN USE THAT PATRIOTISM TO LEAD PEOPLE JUST WHERE YOU WANT THEM TO GO.
“HELL”, HITLER DID IT, WHY NOT YOU?
BTW WILL YOUR INSTITUTION LET ME IN TO PLAY CHURCHILL WHEN YOU PUT ON THIS PLAY? HE COULDN’T TYPE EITHER.