In 1944 during World War II, Guthrie prepared another version which drops the two verses that are critical of the United States from the original: Verse four, about private property, and verse six, about hunger. The line 'This land was made for you and me' does not literally appear in the manuscript at the end of each verse, but is implied by Guthrie's writing of those words at the top of the page and by his subsequent singing of the line with those words.Īccording to Joe Klein, after Guthrie composed it 'he completely forgot about the song, and didn't do anything with it for another five years.' (Since there is a March 1944 recording of the song, Klein should have said 'four years'.) (101 West 43rd St.) in New York, showing his strikeouts.

Original 1940 lyrics įollowing are the original lyrics as composed on February 23, 1940, in Guthrie's room at the Hanover House hotel at 43rd St. In other words, Guthrie repeats the beginning of the melody (the 'A' section) for his third line the melodic phrase for his fourth line ('This land was made for you and me') is found in neither the hymn nor the Carter Family melodies. The melodic structure of the presumed model(s) can be described as 'ABCD'-a new melodic phrase for each of its four lines. Guthrie's song, however, had a different melodic structure from the hymn or the similar Carter Family melodies, and he used only the first half of those melodies in his song. Guthrie's melody was very similar to the melody of 'Oh, My Loving Brother', a Baptist gospel hymn that had been recorded by the Carter Family as 'When the World's On Fire' and had inspired their 'Little Darlin', Pal of Mine.' He used the same melody for the chorus and the verses. 229 on Rolling Stone's 'Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time'.

In 2002, 'This Land Is Your Land' was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. When Guthrie was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing 'God Bless America' on the radio in the late 1930s, he sarcastically called his song 'God Blessed America for Me' before renaming it 'This Land Is Your Land'. Its lyrics were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940 in critical response to Irving Berlin's ' God Bless America', with melody based on a Carter Family tune called 'When the World's on Fire'. ' This Land Is Your Land' is one of the United States' most famous folk songs.

Arlo guthrie and pete seeger