This Land is Truly Your Land Talkin’ Music with Jack

This Land Is Truly Your Land

Sez Woody Guthrie

By Jack Coll

3/5/2015

Woody Sez…

“I hate a song that makes you think that You’re not any good.

I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose.

Bound to lose.  No good to anybody.  No good for nothing.

Because you are either too old or too young or too fat or too slim

or too ugly or too this or too that…

songs that run you down or songs that poke fun of you

on account of your bad luck or your hard traveling.

I am out to fight those kind of songs to my

very last breath of air and my last drop of blood.”

I am out to sing songs that will prove to you

That this is your world and that

If it has hit you pretty hard and

Knocked you for a dozen loops,

No matter what color, what size you are,

How you are built, I am out to sing the songs

That make you take pride in yourself and in your work.

And the songs that I sing are made  for the most part

By all sorts of folks just about like you.

         Woody Guthrie

     The Jack and Bob traveling road show, (referring to the many years and many shows myself and Bob Frost have traveled to)– traveled to Malvern last year to catch a show at the People’s Light & Theatre located on Conestoga Road.  The theatre is located in a beautiful cove just off Rt. 30, and following a great dinner with our wives at a highly sophisticated restaurant, we took our seats at the theatre and settled in for a biographical review called “Woody Sez: The Life And Music Of Woody Guthrie.”

     Woody Guthrie is a famous American Folk hero who was born on July 14, 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma. Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was named after the yet to be elected 28^th President of the United States and later took on the nickname of “Woody.”

     The great state of Oklahoma became a boom state with the discovery of oil back in the early part of last century, but before long the oil industry went bust, in short, Woody left for Texas, and later California.  Woody found work on KFVD radio in California, singing traditional songs as well as his original material.  The radio also provided Woody with a forum from which he developed his talent for controversial social commentary and criticism.  He brought well needed widespread attention to the thousands of people living in makeshift cardboard and tin shelters in large camps.  But what Woody really went after was the corrupt politicians, lawyers, and businessmen.  Woody would praise union organizers that were fighting for the rights of migrant workers in California’s agricultural communities.

     “Woody Sez: The Life And Music Of Woody Guthrie,” was a well put together, and a well-executed, story along with the music of Woody’s life.  David Lutken, a Texas boy himself, played the role of Woody and if you didn’t know any better, you would have thought he was Woody.  The four cast members rolled through Woody’s song library touching on many of the favorite’s like “The Ballad Of Tom Joad,” “This Train is Bound For Glory,” and of course “This Land Is Your Land.”

     In between songs the actors would give you a little history on Woody’s life, or give you a quote from Woody, and Woody had some pretty interesting quotes like this one commenting on his home town of Okemah, Oklahoma:

“Okemah was one of the singingest,

Square dancingest, drinkingest,yellingest,

Preachingest, walkingest, talkingest,

Cryingest, shootingest, fist fightingest,

Bleedingest, gamblingest, gun, club and razor

Carryingest of our ranch towns and farm towns,

Because it blossomed out into one of our

First oil boom towns.”

Another one of Woody’s saying’s,

 I like is this one:

“Watch the kids.

Do like they do.

Act like they act.

Yell like they yell.

Dance the ways you see them dance.

Sing like they sing.

Work and rest the way the kids do.

You’ll be healthier.

You’ll feel wealthier.

You’ll talk wiser.

You’ll go higher,

Do better,

And live longer here amongst us if

You’ll just only jump in here and swim

Around in these songs and do like the kids do.

I don’t want the kids to be grownup.

I want to see the grown folks be kids.”

          Woody wrote what is perhaps his most famous song “This Land Is Your Land” in February 1940.  He recorded it while on shore leave from the Merchant Marines in April 1944, but the song wasn’t released until 1951.  It’s been said that Woody would often write his lyrics and then borrow tunes from popular songs of the day, and for the song, “This Land Is Your Land” he borrowed the tune from the Carters, a popular 1930’s gospel recording called “When the World’s on Fire.”

     It was also said that Woody wrote the song as a retort to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” Kate Smith was on every radio and on every station in the late 1930’s singing “God Bless America.”  Woody was so irritated at the song that he called “This Land is Your Land” “God Blessed America for Me” before renaming it.  A couple of Woody’s original verses were eliminated from the original recording including a verse I’ve heard several times from Pete Seeger and a number of other artists at the Philadelphia Folk Festival:

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me.

The sign was painted, said “Private Property.”

But on the backside, it didn’t say nothing.

This side was made for you and me.

     Woody always said that when it came to reading signs he choose to read the back side of the sign, and if it didn’t say nothing, then he was on his own.  Another verse written by Woody that I really enjoy is this one:

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.

Woody’s Original Version

Chorus:

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 was walking a ribbon of highway

I saw above me and endless skyway

I saw below me a golden valley

This land was made for you and me

Chorus:

I’ve roamed and rambled and I’ve followed my footsteps

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts

And all around me a voice was sounding

This land was made for you and me

Chorus:

The sun comes shinning as I was strolling

The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling

The fog was lifting a voice come chanting

This land was made for you and me

Chorus:

As I was walkin’-I saw a sign there

And that sign said-no tress passin’

But on the other side….it didn’t say nothin’

Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus:

In the squares of the city—In the shadow of the steeple

Near the relief office—I see my people

And some are grumblin’ and some are wonderin’

If this land was made for you and me.

Chorus

     Woody Sez…

I ain’t a gonna kill nobody

“I took a bath this morning in war speeches,

And a sprinkle of peace. 

Looks like every body is declaring war against the forces of force.

That’s what you get for building up a big war machine.

It scares your neighbors into jumping on you,

And then of course they them selves have to use force,

So you are against their force,

And they’re aginst yours.

Look like the ring has been drawed and the marbles are all in.

The millionaires has throwed their silk hats and

our last set of drawers in the ring.

The fuse is lit and the cannon is set,

And somebody is in for a frailin.

I would like to see every single soldier on every single side,

Just take off your helmet, unbuckle your kit,

Lay down your rifle, and set down at the side of some shady lane,

And say, nope, I ain’t gonna kill nobody.

Plenty of rich folks wants to fight.

Give them the guns.”

     Hats off to the play “Woody Sez, The Life And Music Of Woody Guthrie,” and hats off to the People’s Light & Theatre, I’ve been to a lot of theatres over the years, People’s Light is among the elite when it comes to location, comfort, and quality of productions.

     And in the end, Hats Off to Woody Guthrie, this land truly was his land, and your land, and my land.  That’s the way Woody saw it, that’s the way Woody believed it should be, and he turned down the easy road and big money to spread the word, that America belongs to everybody.

     Not all trains are bound for glory, but Woody’s train sure was, hats off to a true American folk hero!

Jack Coll is a veteran writer who has traveled to hundreds of concerts

over the past 40 years.  Jack writes a music column every-so often ,

 if you would like to read some of Jack’s past music columns you

can go the Conshystuff.com library to read the music and other columns.

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