This Land Is Your Land

Woody Guthrie in 1943.

"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 on an existing melody, in response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. Tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on the radio, he wrote a response originally called "God Blessed America for Me". Guthrie varied the lyrics over time, sometimes including more overtly political verses than appear in recordings or publications.

Guthrie lifted the melody of "This Land Is Your Land" essentially note-for-note from "When the World's on Fire", a Baptist hymn recorded by country legends the Carter Family ten years earlier. However, one source claims that a Carter Family original, "Little Darlin' Pal of Mine," was the source of the melody for "This Land." He wrote the song in 1940 and recorded it in 1944. The song was not published until 1951, when it was included in a mimeographed booklet of ten songs with typed lyrics and hand drawings. The booklet was sold for twenty-five cents, and copyrighted in 1945.

The first known professionally printed publication was in 1956 by Ludlow Music (now a unit of The Richmond Organization), which administered the publishing rights to Guthrie's tune. Ludlow later issued versions with piano and guitar accompaniments.

In 2002, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry [1].

Original 1944 Lyrics

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 went walking that ribbon of highway

I saw above me that endless skyway

I saw below me that golden valley

This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts

While all around me a voice was sounding

Saying this land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling

And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling

A 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 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.

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 interviewed as part of the History Channel program Save Our History - Save our Sounds. The 1944 recording with this 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;

That side was made for you and me.

WoodyGuthrie.orgHas a variant:

As I went walking I saw a sign there

And 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 back

This land was made for you and me.

This verse is of unknown origin,, and may have been referred to as the "relief office" verse.

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.

Like a great many folk songs, the lyrics were 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.

Modern usage

The song was brought back to life in the 1960s, when several artists of the new folk movement, including Bob Dylan, The Kingston Trio, and The New Christy Minstrels all recorded versions, inspired by its political message. Peter Paul and Mary recorded the song in 1962 for their Movin' album. The Seekers recorded the song for their 1965 album, A World of Our Own. Bruce Springsteen released a live version of it on Live/1975-85, in which he called it "about one of the most beautiful songs ever written." Numerous records have been released since. Dave Matthews has periodically sung the song's first verse as an outro while performing "Don't Drink The Water". In 2007, Counting Crows released an acoustic version as a bonus track on August and Everything After. The funk/soul group Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings included their rendition on the 2005 record Naturally. Bruce Springsteen once again brought back the song in 2008 as set closer when performing acoustic concerts in support of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama, this time adding a "Yes We Can" chant before and after the song.

The song was sung 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 per Pete Seeger's request.

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

• The "Megama Duo" Band (Moshe Yess and Sholom Levine) composed the following song during the time of the negotiations between Israel and Egypt for the Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty to awaken the public to the importance of the land of Israel to the Jewish Nation. This song was reportedly sung in front of Jimmy Carter during some fund-raising event.

This land is your land, this land is my land

From the Negev Desert to the Heights of Golan

From the Port of Haifa to the City of Galilee

This land was made for you and me

We roamed and rambled the whole world over

We lived in Ghettos, we lived thru torture

We kept on praying, our prayers were answered

This land was made for you and me

This land was God's land, and he gave it to Abraham

And he gave it to Isaac, and he gave it to Jacob

And now its our land, It's for our children

This land was made for you and me

A recording of this song, sung during a Megama concert in 1981 in S. Paul, MN is available on YouTube.

• In Canada, the song is sung with the first verse altered to make Canadian geographical references. This version was written and popularized by Canadian folk music group The Travellers in 1955:

This land is your land, This land is my land,

From Bonavista, to Vancouver Island

From the Arctic Circle to the Great Lakes waters,

This land was made for you and me.

It was sung by John Cullum in an episode of the American television series Northern Exposure

• The Swedish musician Mikael Wiehe has written a text in Swedish, Det här är ditt land. The text is about Sweden.

• The UK anarcho-punk band Zounds rewrote "This Land" for their 1981 debut LP, The Curse of Zounds, releasing a remixed CD single version as a fund-raising benefit in 2001. Billy Bragg has used a version of the song with UK specific lyrics in live performances. A version was included on the bonus tracks section of the 2006 re-release of his The Internationale album.

• In Ireland many sing the song with these lyrics:

Chorus:

This land is your land, this land is my land

From the northern highlands to the western islands

From the hills of Kerry to the streets of (Free) Derry

This land was made for you and me

However there is also an Irish rebel song, which is often performed with Let the People Sing , with the above chorus and three verses:

As I went walking, by the Shannon waters

Hand in hand with my little daughter

I heard the church bells ringing

And the children singing

This land was made for you and me

I climbed the mountain, by the crystal fountains

And I heard a great roar, from the rocky seashore

Her eyes were gleaming,

She said "Oh daddy"

This land was made for you and me

I walked her home by, the old church steeple

Proud of my country, Proud of my people

From the men who cried there

To the men who died there singing that

This land was made for you and me

The Waterboys have performed the song with an additional verse, referring to Scotland

• In India, the following versions are sung:

This land is your land, this land is my land,

From the Himalaya, down to Cape Comorin.

From Bombay City to Old Calcutta -

This land was made for you and me.

or,

This land is your land, this land is my land,

From the Himalayan Mountains, to the Indian Ocean.

From the Bay of Bengal, to the Arabian Waters,

This land was made for you and me.

• In 1968, a Belgian singing duo, a young woman and her brother named "Hanny and Adri" made a version in Esperanto, titled "Jen Nia Mondo," literally "Behold Our World." The chorus translates as:

Behold my world,

Behold your world,

With mountain snow

And sea wave,

From the tropics

To the poles,

Behold vast world for all of us.

• The U.S. Virgin Islands released a commercial with a song relating to the USVI.

This land is your land, this land is my land,

From California to the Virgin Islands

From the Redwood Forest, to the Caribbean waters

This land is made for you and me

This was followed by a voiceover advertising the islands.

• The Bahamas sings the song with the first verse altered to make it relevant to to The Bahamas.

This land is your land, this land is my land,

From Grand Bahama down to Inagua

From the Berry Islands, down to Mayaguana

This land is made for you and me

All of which are islands in The Bahamas

Other variations

• American hardcore band MDC recorded a version of "This Land" on "Shades of Brown" (1993).

• Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello has covered this song with the American punk band Anti Flag while performing as The Nightwatchman.

• A Turkish performer Nuri Sesigüzel has also covered this song.

In film, television and Internet

• The Tim Robbins film Bob Roberts (1992) includes a song in which the title character sings "This land is my land, this land is my land."
• The song was parodied in a 1999 episode of Friends when Joey meets a man he believes to be his "hand-twin," resulting in the lyric "This hand is my hand." [2]
• It is also parodied in The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Treehugger" (2000) with the words changed to "This log is my log, this log is your log" in reference to a runaway giant redwood tree. [3]
• 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 settled with Jibjab shortly thereafter. It 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 first JibJab parody verse, sung by Bush, is:

  This land is your land, [points to "Mass-a-chew-setts"] this land is my land [points to "Don't Mess With Texas"]

  I'm a Texas tiger, you're a liberal wiener

  I'm a great crusader, you're a Herman Munster.

  This land will surely vote for me!

• In the 4Kids Entertainment dub of One Piece, in the episode "The Sweat Threat" (2007), before Luffy's third fight with Crocodile, Luffy tells Crocodile to return the land he stole from Alabasta, and Crocodile responds with, "Oh please, this land isn't even your land! But this land is my land! From Alubarna to the Desert Island! This land was made for him, then me!" When Crocodile says "him", 4Kids added a shot of King Nefeltari Nebra (King Nefertari Cobra in the Japanese version). [4]
• The song was also performed in the 1998 movie, Stepmom.

External links

• The Bound for Glory exhibit at the Museum of Musical Instruments includes images of Guthrie
• 1972 published version
• lyrics as copyrighted in 1956
• Lyrics
• an early manuscript
• JibJab parody
• An example of an early advertisement featuring the parody of 'This Land is Your Land'