On election day, I tapped Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring as my soundtrack for that moment.
Today, without question, it’s Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land. And, as it turns out Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen felt the same way, performing it at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday.
This was a song they taught us in grade school. The schools taught it along with America The Beautiful, and all sorts of others.
The version they taught us was not the original. The real heart of the song, the meaning of the song had been censored, and it wasn’t until years later that I heard the original, as part of my momentary obsession with Woody Guthrie, a real bridge to a so-called Cowboy Past, through Guthrie’s vast experience traveling the Plains, learning songs, riding the rails, watching America during the depression. This is the song, for this moment. And, with today’s inauguration, I think the answer to Woody’s question at the end, is a more hopeful one than ever.
This Land is Your Land on YouTube, Seeger and Springsteen.
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
words and music by Woody Guthrie
Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me
As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!
Chorus
In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.
Chorus (2x)
©1956 (renewed 1984), 1958 (renewed 1986) and 1970 TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (
BMI)
Thanks for supplying the complete lyrics, Richard. I was familiar with the first two or three verses, but not the complete ones. I agree, it’s an appropriate song for this moment in time. Viva Guthrie!