June 27, 2022 – THEME WEEK DAY 1

Since the 4th of July is just a week away, I thought we’d do a theme week on patriotic songs! We’re kicking it off with one of the best known folk songs in the U.S., “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie!
Guthrie wrote the song in his New York City hotel room in 1940. He had just gotten to Manhattan after traveling across the country and meeting people affected by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. He was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing “God Bless America”, which was all over the radio at the time. So he decided to write a song in response, originally calling it “God Blessed America for Me” before changing it to “This Land is Your Land”.
His original lyrics had 6 verses, two that had progressive political messages that were later dropped. The melody was from an old gospel song, and although he wrote it in 1940, he didn’t record it until 4 years later in 1944.
In the early 1950s, Guthrie’s publisher lowered the licensing fee for the song to just $1 in order for the song to be included in music textbooks in schools all over the country. The song became very well known after that, as widespread as the National Anthem across the U.S.
In the 1960s, the song was revived by folk artists like Bob Dylan, The Kingston Trio, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, who all recorded their own versions of it. Over the years, it’s been covered by everyone from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, to Bruce Springsteen, to Lady Gaga during her 2017 Super Bowl halftime performance.
While “This Land is Your Land” is the most popular of Guthrie’s songs, it was also one of his last. He was a Merchant Marine during World War II, and afterwards returning to performing and recording, but he never matched his earlier output. He was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease in 1954 and died in 1967. But he lived long enough to see his music inspire a new generation, which was introduced through musicians like Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, and his son Arlo. Learn more here.