Not to mention there is no one in America over the age of five who can't at least sing the first verse.
It's hard to imagine that a song first recorded 71 years ago could inspire such a varied group of artists as those above to record their own versions through the years, but "This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie has. Guthrie originally penned the song in 1940 as a response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" (which he considered unrealistic), forgot about the song until 1944 (when it was recorded for the first time), and the rest, as they say, is history. The original lyrics had a decidedly more political bent to them, but Guthrie eventually pared them down to the celebration of America's beauty that we all know today.
Guthrie himself was quite the political animal, travelling across America throughout the Great Depression fighting poverty and injustice. He flirted with the Communist Party, was a strong labor union supporter, and railed against forces of inequality not so different than those we face today. Sadly, Guthrie's suffered from the effects of Huntington's disease for the last twenty years of his life and spent the final eleven years in hospitals before his death in 1967. He left behind a legacy of political activism via music and a catalog of songs that define the American experience of the twentieth century. A true American hero.
As for the song itself--what can I really say? It's a buoyant trip across this land we call home, celebrating its beauty and its promise. And with nothing more than a voice and an acoustic guitar.
Fun factoid: Guthrie had a sticker affixed to his guitar which read, "This machine kills fascists." Truer words, my friends, truer words.
And despite all our travails, American truly is "...made for you and me."
Enjoy:
Peace,
emaycee
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