This Land is Your Land

Woody Guthrie, 1944

    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.

    As I was walking that ribbon of highway

    I saw above me that endless skyway

    I saw below me that golden valley

    This land was made for you and me.

    I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps

    To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts

    While all around me a voice was sounding

    This land was made for you and me.

    When the sun came shining, and I was strolling

    And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling

    A 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.

Woody Guthrie, a legendary folk poet, had a strong influence on the folksong revival of the 1950s. He wrote or adapted over 1,000 songs, including this classic. Guthrie intended the song to be a grassroots response to “God Bless America.”

National Recording Registry

http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2002reg.html