Published 1945 Genre Folk | Recorded 1944 | |
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"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing melody, a Carter Family tune called "When the World's on Fire", in critical response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." When Guthrie was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on the radio in the late 1930s he sarcastically wrote "God Blessed America for Me" before renaming it "This Land Is Your Land."
Contents
- Melody
- Original 1940 lyrics
- Original 1944 lyrics
- Confirmation of two other verses
- Variations
- Versions about other countries
- Other variations
- In film television internet books and advertising
- Copyright controversy
- References
The original lyrics to the song included this verse:
"There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me. The sign was painted, said 'Private Property.' But on the backside, it didn't say nothing. This land was made for you and me."
This verse was never released even though it was recorded by Moses Asch in 1944. This original version was basically lost, until a Smithsonian archivist, Jeff Place, heard the master version of it on the acetate record in 1997 when it was being transferred to a digital format. This transfer was made in order to preserve its history for the museum. Guthrie also wrote another protest verse that was never officially recorded but was celebrated by his own son, the folksinger Arlo Guthrie, as well as Pete Seeger. They even made a point to sing the more radical verses to "This Land Is Your Land," and they also revived verses that Guthrie wrote but never officially recorded. This verse was found by, and is still in possession of, Woody Guthrie's daughter, Nora.
"One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple, by the relief office I saw my people. As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if God Blessed America for me."
Nora Guthrie mentioned that she had an idea about why these words were never recorded at the 1944 session and why the 'private property' verse that was recorded was never issued. In her own words she said, "This is the early '50s, and [U.S. Sen. Joseph] McCarthy's out there, and it was considered dangerous in many ways to record this kind of material." She went on to say that, "If my dad had done the recording, I don't think it would have meant anything to him if he was imprisoned, actually." "He was quite used to living without and having nights in prison and things like that. Like most of the things, if we're talking about my dad, it gets very complex here. So I think, you know, The Weavers originally just recorded the first three verses — which, in one way, was very, very helpful to my dad, because we had no money. So thank God that they recorded something, and our family was able to get some royalties from that." Eventually, Guthrie lost his ability to play guitar and his ability to sing but he continued to write and to inspire a younger generation of performers, including Bob Dylan, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg, and the band Wilco.
When Guthrie recorded "This Land Is Your Land," he ended it with this verse:
"When the sun comes shining, then I was strolling, With the wheat fields waving, the dust clouds rolling, The voice come a-chanting, and the fog was lifting. This land was made for you and me."
In 2002, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.
Melody
Guthrie's melody was very similar to the melody of "Oh, My Loving Brother", a Baptist gospel hymn that had been recorded by the Carter Family as "When the World's On Fire" and had inspired their "Little Darlin', Pal of Mine." He used the same melody for the chorus and the verses.
Guthrie's song, however, had a different melodic structure from the hymn or the similar Carter family melodies, and he used only the first half of those melodies in his song. The melodic structure of the presumed model(s) can be described as "ABCD"—a new melodic phrase for each of its four lines. Guthrie's structure, however, is "ACAB." In other words, Guthrie repeats the beginning of the melody (the "A" section) for his third line; the melodic phrase for his fourth line ("This land was made for you and me") is found in neither the hymn nor the Carter family melodies.
Original 1940 lyrics
Following are the original lyrics as composed on February 23, 1940, in Guthrie's room at the Hanover House hotel at 43rd St. and 6th Ave. (101 West 43rd St.) in New York, showing his strikeouts. The line "This land was made for you and me" does not literally appear in the manuscript at the end of each verse, but is implied by Guthrie's writing of those words at the top of the page and by his subsequent singing of the line with those words.
The original title was "God Blessed America", but it was struck out and replaced by "This Land Was Made For You & Me". It appears therefore that the original 1940 title was "This Land".
According to Joe Klein, after Guthrie composed it "he completely forgot about the song, and didn't do anything with it for another five years." (Since there is a March, 1944, recording of the song, Klein should have said "four years".)
Original 1944 lyrics
This land is your land, this land is my landFrom California to the New York IslandFrom the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream watersThis land was made for you and me.As I was walking that ribbon of highwayI saw above me that endless skywayI saw below me that golden valleyThis land was made for you and me.I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footstepsTo the sparkling sands of her diamond desertsWhile all around me a voice was soundingThis land was made for you and me.When the sun came shining, and I was strollingAnd the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rollingA voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,This land was made for you and me.This land is your land, this land is my landFrom California to the New York IslandFrom the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream watersThis land was made for you and me.Note that this version drops the two political verses from the original: Verse four, about private property, and verse six, about hunger.
Confirmation of two other verses
A March 1944 recording in the possession of the Smithsonian, the earliest known recording of the song, has the "private property" verse included. This version was recorded the same day as 75 other songs. This was confirmed by several archivists for Smithsonian who were interviewed as part of the History Channel program Save Our History – Save our Sounds. The 1944 recording with this fourth verse can be found on Woody Guthrie: This Land is Your Land: The Asch Recordings Volume 1, where it is track 14.
There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;Sign was painted, it said private property;But on the back side it didn't say nothing;This land was made for you and me.Woodyguthrie.org has a variant:
As I went walking I saw a sign thereAnd on the sign it said "No Trespassing."But on the other side it didn't say nothing,That side was made for you and me.It also has a verse:
Nobody living can ever stop me,As I go walking that freedom highway;Nobody living can ever make me turn backThis land was made for you and me.In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;By the relief office, I'd seen my people.As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,Is this land made for you and me?A 1945 pamphlet which omitted the last two verses has caused some question as to whether the original song did in fact contain the full text. The original manuscript confirms both of these verses.
As with other folk songs, it was sung with different words at various times although the motives for this particular change of lyrics may involve the possible political interpretations of the verses. Recordings of Guthrie have him singing the verses with different words.
The radical verses are not often performed in schools or official functions. They can be best interpreted as a protest against the vast income inequalities that existed then in the United States, and against the sufferings of millions during the Great Depression. America, Guthrie insists, was made—and could still be made—for you and me. This interpretation is consistent with such other Guthrie songs as "Pretty Boy Floyd" and Guthrie's lifelong struggle for social justice.
The song was revived in the 1960s, when several artists of the new folk movement, including Bob Dylan, The Kingston Trio, Trini Lopez, Jay and the Americans, and The New Christy Minstrels all recorded versions, inspired by its political message. Peter, Paul and Mary recorded the song in 1962 for their Moving album. The Seekers recorded the song for their 1965 album, A World of Our Own. It was performed many times by the cyclist choir, accompanied by guitarists and a wash-tub bassist, during the Wandering Wheels historic 1966 U.S. coast-to-coast bicycle trip. At the founding convention of the Canadian social democratic New Democratic Party, a version of the song was sung by the attending delegates. Bruce Springsteen first began performing it live on the River Tour in 1980, and released one such performance of it on Live/1975–85, in which he called it "about one of the most beautiful songs ever written."
The song was performed by Springsteen and Pete Seeger, accompanied by Seeger's grandson, Tao Rodríguez-Seeger, at We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial on January 18, 2009. The song was restored to the original lyrics (including the 'There was a big high wall there' and 'Nobody living can ever stop me' verses) for this performance (as per Pete Seeger's request) with the exception of a change in the end of the 'Relief Office' verse to "As they stood hungry, I stood there whistling, This land was made for you and me." The original lyrics are "As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking, Is this land made for you and me?"
Voice actress and children's entertainer Debi Derryberry recorded a version for her musical album What A Way To Play in 2006.
In 2010, Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, the surviving members of Peter, Paul and Mary, requested that the National Organization for Marriage stop using their recording of "This Land is Your Land" at their rallies, stating in a letter that the organization's philosophy was "directly contrary to the advocacy position" held by the group.
Arlo Guthrie tells a story in concerts on occasion, of his mother returning from a dance tour of China, and reporting around the Guthrie family dinner table that at one point in the tour she was serenaded by Chinese children singing the song. Arlo says Woody was incredulous: "The Chinese? Singing "This land is your land, this land is my land? From California to the New York island?"
Variations
As is the case with many well-known songs, it has been the subject of an enormous number of variations and parodies. They include:
Versions about other countries
Many variants of the song have been recorded with lyrics adjusted to fit other countries, regions, languages, and ethnic groups. They include:
Other variations
The song has been recorded by many performers over the years, ranging from American Country legend Glen Campbell, hardcore band Hated Youth, all the way to Turkish performer Nuri Sesigüzel to reggae group The Melodians.
A version called "This badge is your badge", about FC United of Manchester, was written by fan Mickey O'Farrell, and is often sung by fans at the club's matches.
In film, television, internet, books, and advertising
The song has been sung by characters in many film and television productions, including Bob Roberts (1992), Stepmom (1998), Full House, The Luck of the Irish (a Disney Channel movie), Up in the Air and by Renée Zellweger in the 2010 film My Own Love Song.
It has been parodied many times, including:
Copyright controversy
In 2004, the website JibJab featured a parody of the song, featuring John Kerry and George W. Bush singing altered lyrics, resulting in the Richmond Organization threatening legal action. At this point, it was noticed that the copyright to the original 1945 publication had expired in 1973 and was not renewed as then required by copyright law. The Richmond Organization, a music publisher that owns the copyright to Guthrie's tune through its Ludlow Music unit, settled with Jibjab shortly thereafter. Richmond still, however, claims copyright on other versions of the song, such as those appearing in the 1956 and later publications. Legally, such claims only apply to original elements of the song that were not in the public domain version.
The Richmond Organization and Ludlow Music were sued in 2016 over their claims of copyright in a lawsuit led by Randall Newman. In a similar case, Newman previously successfully argued the song "Happy Birthday to You" was public domain.