WOODY GUTHRIE "THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND" Lyrics

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Music Video Title: This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie
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Woody Guthrie This Land is Your Land Lyrics Information:

"THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND" 1
Written by: Woody Guthrie 2
Performed by: Woody Guthrie 3 4
First released 5 :
Single: 1944
Album: 1958

1 "This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs.
Its lyrics were written in 1940 and recorded by Guthrie in 1944, using the tune
of a Baptist gospel hymn. Guthrie said he was tired of hearing Irving Berlin's
"God Bless America," which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent, played
on the radio. His response song was originally called, "God Blessed America for
Me." Over time, Guthrie sand it with varied lyrics, sometimes including more
overtly political verses than appear in recordings or publications, and the name
was changed to, "This Land is Your Land." 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 first known professionally printed publication was in
1956 by Ludlow Music, 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.

These are the original lyrics as published in the mimeographed booklet

A March 1944 recording in the possession of the Smithsonian, the earliest known
recording of the song, has the above "private property," and "no tresspassing"
verses included and can be found on Woody Guthrie: This Land is Your Land: The
Asch Recordings Volume 1, track 14. 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, also housed at the Smithsonian,
confirms both of these verses.

Like a great many well-known songs, the lyrics were sung with different words in
a differnt order at various time, most often to express a political point of
view. Also, the song has been the subject of an enormous number of parodies.

Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger, accompanied by Seeger's grandson, Tao
Rodríguez-Seeger, performed the song at the We Are One: The Obama Inaugural
Celebration, at the Lincoln Memorial on January 18, 2009. The song was restored
to the original lyrics 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," at the request of Pete Seeger.

3 Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie, born July 14, 1912, died October 3, 1967, is
best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical
legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads
and improvised works. "This Land Is Your Land," is probably his best known song,
which is regularly sung in American schools. Many of his recorded songs are
archived in the Library of Congress. He was probably the most important American
folk music artist of the first half of the 20th century, in part because he
turned out to be such a major influence on the popular music of the second half
of the 20th century.

4 Notable overs by:
Paul Anka,
Harry Belafonte,
The Boston Pops Orchestra,
Billy Bragg,
The Brothers Four,
Glen Campbell,
Johnny Cash,
Jessi Colter,
Bob Dylan,
Percy Faith,
Flatt & Scruggs,
Lester Flatt,
Tennessee Ernie Ford,
Will Gere,
Lee Greenwood,
Arlo Guthrie (Woody's son),
The Hit Crew,
Wanda Jackson,
Jay & the Americans,
Anita Kerr,
The Kingston Trio,
Little Feat,
Trini Lopez,
Country Joe McDonals,
John Mellencamp,
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir,
Willie Nelson,
The New Christy Minstrels,
Peter, Paul & Mary,
Tex Ritter,
Earl Scruggs,
Pete Seeger,
The Seekers,
Bruce Springstein,
Bruce Springstein & the E Street Band,
The Travellers,
The Weavers,
Glenn Yarbrough,
Fredric Zimmerman,
et al.

5 Appears on: *
Single(s):
(1)I have no information of the original 1944 recording.

(2)Woody Guthrie
A-side: "This Land Is Your Land"
B-side: Unknown
1. Label Unknown, 12-Inch Vinyl, 78rpm, #Unknown, US-1947.

Other Source(s):
1. YouTube version 6
(Note: Even though the running time of the clip says it's 4:30 long,
the song ends at about 2:44.)

Album(s):
(1)Bound for Glory: The Songs & Story of Woody Guthrie
1. Smithsonian Folkways, 10-Track, Mono LP, #FA-2481, US-1958.
2. Smithsonian Folkways, 10-Track, Cassette, #FA-2481-4, US-1973.

(2)Woody Guthrie: This Land Is Your Land
1. Smithsonian Folkways, 9-Track, Stereo LP, #FTS-31001, US-1967.

(3)Various Artists: The Asch Recordings, Vols.1-4
1. Smithsonian Folkways, 105-Track, CD Boxed Set, #40112, US-1999.
et al.

* This list is not intended to be the complete discography
on which this song appears.

6 Transcribed from this source.