"This Land Is Your Land" as written by and Woody Guthrie....
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
And I went walking that ribbon of highway
And saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me the golden valley
This land was made for you and me
I roamed and rambled and followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around meT, a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me
There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property
But on the back side it didn't say nothing
This land was made for you and me
When the sun come shining, then I was strolling
In wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me
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
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me
And I went walking that ribbon of highway
And saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me the golden valley
This land was made for you and me
I roamed and rambled and followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around meT, a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me
There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property
But on the back side it didn't say nothing
This land was made for you and me
When the sun come shining, then I was strolling
In wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me
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
Lyrics submitted by ralph mctell
"This Land Is Your Land" as written by Woody Guthrie
Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.
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Freddy got most of it there. One verse that is usually left out goes:
On a bright sunny morning, in the shadow of the steeple
By the relief office, I saw my people
As they stood there hungry, I stood there wondering if
This land was made for you and me.
Kind of packs more of a punch than the "Yay America" version people tend to think this song is.
Also, Woody wrote the song because he was sick of hearing some lady )I don't remember her name) singing God Bless America on the radio. This song was originally titled "God Blessed America For Me." Those words can still be sung instead of "this land was made for you and me."
"I ain't a Communists necessarily, but I have been in the red all my life." -Woody Guthrie.
When reading stories of how people mistake, and even praise it as a 'God Bless America' song, I'm always reminded about how Catholic churches would sometimes play The Beatles song 'Mother Mary', when there were so many people who thought it was about drugs (don't bother arguing that it's not, because I'm not arguing that it is).