On this day in labor history the year was 1940, in a hotel in New York City, Woody Guthrie penned the original lyrics of his song “This Land is Your Land.”
The song was not recorded at Folkway Records until four years later.
Born in Oklahoma, Guthrie crisscrossed the United States, writing songs about the struggles of working people and the poverty he observed.
He became of the most important social commentators of his day.
One of Woody’s best know songs “This Land is Your Land” was a response or retort to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America.”
That popular tune crowded the radio airwaves in the 1930s and Guthrie felt that Berlin’s song did not adequately capture the experience of the common man.
He felt it ignored the discrepancies in wealth and opportunity he observed in his travels.
Guthrie sarcastically called his new song “God Bless America For Me” before renaming it “This Land is Your Land.”
Guthrie’s original recording included the lyrics “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 land was made for you and me.”
But the studio did not release this verse of the song. During the late 1940s and 1950s artists were often censored for anything that could be labeled as having “communist” undertones.
The song, including its more radical verses, became a staple for folk singers, especially Pete Seeger.
It remains a favorite song for labor rallies to this day.
Labor History in 2:00 brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and The Rick Smith Show