This Land is Your Land

"This Land is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs, written by Woody Guthrie in 1940. It was originally penned in response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Guthrie considered that song unrealistic and complacent, and was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on the radio. Guthrie varied the lyrics over time, sometimes including more overtly political verses that often do not appear in recordings or publications.

Lyrics from 1945 version

Below are the lyrics of the song as given in the 1945 booklet. (These are somewhat different from the lyrics in later published editions.)

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:This land is your land, this land is my land

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:From the Redwood Forest to the New York Island

Related Topics:
Redwood - New York

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:The Canadian mountain to the Gulf Stream waters

Related Topics:
Canadian mountain - Gulf Stream

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:This land is made for you and me.

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:As I go walking this ribbon of highway

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:I see above me this endless skyway

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:And all around me the wind keeps saying:

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:This land is made for you and me.

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:I roam and I ramble and I follow my footsteps

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:Till I come to the sands of her mineral desert

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:The mist is lifting and the voice is saying:

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:This land is made for you and me.

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:Where the wind is blowing I go a strolling

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:The wheat field waving and the dust a rolling

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:The fog is lifting and the wind is saying:

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:This land is made for you and me.

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:Nobody living can ever stop me

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:As I go walking my freedom highway

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:Nobody living can make me turn back

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:This land is made for you and me.

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The Bound for Glory exhibit at the Museum of Musical Instruments includes images of Guthrie's original 1940 manuscript, as well as the 1972 published version of the song.

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