This Land Is Your Land

My Seraphim Chorus is doing a Summer of Love, Music of the 60’s concert in June. One of the concert selections is Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie’s folk song standard This Land Is Your Land. It is a boffo arrangement that elevates it more than a tad beyond some of the hokey versions many of us sang in our high school choir days. Sometimes a song has been performed badly for so long, to hear it done well is almost like a re-introduction. This is one of those songs.

I was curious as to the song’s back story, so I did a little research. It was written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 as a backlash of sorts to Kate Smith’s version of God Bless America. He felt the Irving Berlin standard did not ring true to his vision of the spirit of America, and I suspect neither did Kate Smith. He put his lyrics to the tune of an old Baptist Gospel Hymn entitled Oh My Loving Brother and made famous by the 1930 Carter Family recording re-named When the World’s on Fire. You can follow the sequence from Kate Smith to the Carter Family inspiration to Woody Guthrie’s adaptation on the Mark Knows It All home page.

Guthrie recorded the song in 1944 but it was never released. The recording was “lost” in the Smithsonian Archives until 1967 when it was re-discovered as the archives were being transferred to digital format. The music was published professionally in 1951. But it was in the 1960’s that the song became an anthem for the decade and a folk song favorite sung just about everywhere. Among those who recorded the song were Peter, Paul and Mary, the Kingston Trio, Bob Dylan, the New Christie Minstrels, the Seekers, and especially Pete Seeger among others.

Over the years the song morphed through various lyrics with strong political overtones. Among various conservatives it has been called the alternate National Anthem and/or the Marxist God Bless America. Obama used it in his 2008 campaign, starting and ending it with his “Yes, we can!” chant. Here is an example of some of the more interesting lyrics sung by some of the more leftist artists in concert but never recorded.

One bright sunny morning
in the shadow of the steeple,

by the relief office
I saw my people.

As they stood hungry,

I stood there wondering
if God blessed America for me.

Maybe there is some political baggage associated with the song…but the version that we are singing now, and that I sang back in school, makes it as patriotic as baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. I teared up while practicing last night. What a message for America today. It describes the vastness of our country, and the freedom we are so blessed to enjoy. All I could think about was the malaise that seems to have settled in over the nation. We have always been a “can do” people. What happened? Where did it go?

This isn’t a left issue or a right issue. It is an American issue. Where is the leadership? Where are those who can point to America as that Shining City on a Hill? Where is our President? America needs to be told….Yes, We Can. Together, we can move forward to a better tomorrow. Where is the vision? Where is the hope?

It is time for America to resurrect its spirit. It is time for all of us to recognize the inherent greatness of our nation and our people. We are the land of opportunity. We face challenges. But we are nation of people who work hard and persevere. This land IS your land…my land…our land. And with the deepest apologies to Woody Guthrie…God Bless America.