Tuesday, February 07, 2017

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND - ALL VERSES

Some folks believe that Lady Gaga's Super Bowl half-time show included a veiled political statement in her singing a bit of Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your Land.  I did not quite follow that, thinking like most people, that it is a feel-good, kumbya camp fire song.  Then I read more about the two missing verses that are nearly always left out of recordings, and of Guthrie's penning the song in a fierce rebuttal to the anthem of his day, America the Beautiful.  Here are all six verses, and you can likely figure out which two are usually deleted:

1940 Lyrics with Edits

This land is your land, this land is my land
From the California to the Staten New York Island,
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
God blessed America for me.
[This land was made for you and me.]
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
And saw above me that endless skyway,
And saw below me the golden valley, I said:
God blessed America for me.
[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 me, a voice was sounding:
God blessed America for me.
[This land was made for you and me.]
Was a 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 —
God blessed America for me.
[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:
God blessed America for me.
[This land was made for you and me.]
One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the Relief Office I saw my people —
As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if
God blessed America for me.
[This land was made for you and me.]
 
 
 

9 comments:

Bizzy Brain said...

Amazing how Lady Gaga's performance inspired the Patriots to come back in the second half and execute a historical comeback!

hoosierdaddy said...

Wonder what she promised Brady behind Giselle's back :-)

Bizzy Brain said...

She probably promised to put the Patriots on her prayer list.

Lou Siefer said...

You got great choices nowadays for halftime and Grammy Award "entertainment," paganism or Babylon or both, e.g. Beyonce or Lady Gaga. Am excited that so many millions of Americans are thrilled by it.

Douglas E said...

Lou - and I am sure that you are aware that you and the Donald have an allegiance to destroy the US!!

Lou Siefer said...

Actually, Douglas E., I am in league with evil snake Barack Obama to destroy the US. Don't tell anybody, heh-heh. Let them think Trump is the destroyer.

Douglas E said...

Lou - seems like you failed since you had 8 years of Obama to do the trick!

Lou Siefer said...

Obama now leads the Organizing for America activist organization whose purpose is to obstruct Trump and Republican governance activities across the country, so all is not lost. OTH, hundreds upon hundreds of state Democrat office holders have lost to Republicans during the eight years of Obama.

Douglas E said...

Lou - not that the Republicans were trying to obstruct Obama governance - har!