Yeah, the posted version is messed up. Maybe he sang it that way a couple of times, but it's definitely not the standard way.
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.
Kate Smith is the lady you're thinking of. Her version of "God Bless America" was very, very popular, and although Irving Berlin wrote it, people thought of it as "Kate Smith's song" back then. She was a staunch conservative and a racist. So you can see why Woody was annoyed by her and moved to write an answer song.
Kate Smith is the lady you're thinking of. Her version of "God Bless America" was very, very popular, and although Irving Berlin wrote it, people thought of it as "Kate Smith's song" back then. She was a staunch conservative and a racist. So you can see why Woody was annoyed by her and moved to write an answer song.
Yeah, the posted version is messed up. Maybe he sang it that way a couple of times, but it's definitely not the standard way.
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.
Kate Smith is the lady you're thinking of. Her version of "God Bless America" was very, very popular, and although Irving Berlin wrote it, people thought of it as "Kate Smith's song" back then. She was a staunch conservative and a racist. So you can see why Woody was annoyed by her and moved to write an answer song.
Kate Smith is the lady you're thinking of. Her version of "God Bless America" was very, very popular, and although Irving Berlin wrote it, people thought of it as "Kate Smith's song" back then. She was a staunch conservative and a racist. So you can see why Woody was annoyed by her and moved to write an answer song.