This Land Is Your Land
Woody Guthrie wrote "This Land Is Your Land" in 1940 as a response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Set to a Carter Family melody, it became one of the best-known American folk songs, though the verses most people sing leave out its sharper lines.
- Written
- 23 February 1940, New York City
- Writer
- Woody Guthrie
- Original title
- "God Blessed America for Me"
- Melody
- Based on the Carter Family's "When the World's on Fire"
- Earliest recording
- April 1944
History
Guthrie wrote the words on 23 February 1940 in a New York hotel room, tired of hearing Kate Smith sing "God Bless America" on the radio. He first called it, sarcastically, "God Blessed America for Me". The melody comes from the Carter Family's "When the World's on Fire", itself close to the Baptist hymn "Oh, My Loving Brother".
The earliest known recording, made in April 1944 and held by the Smithsonian, includes a verse about private property; it was released in 1997. The song was published in 1945, and the short version most people know first appeared on record in 1951.
The verses that were left out
Guthrie's original manuscript includes two verses critical of the United States, one about private property and one about hungry people. They were dropped from a wartime version and from the 1945 songbook, which is why many people learn a gentler song than Guthrie wrote. When Pete Seeger sang it with Bruce Springsteen at the 2009 inaugural celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, Seeger asked to use the original words.
Recognition
A 1947 recording entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1989, and the song was added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2002. Peter, Paul and Mary, the Seekers and Bruce Springsteen are among the many artists who have recorded it.
We describe this song rather than print its words: versions differ from singer to singer, and many of the best-known texts come from particular recordings.