Woody Guthrie: The American Myth under Duress
So Joyce’s tender remembrance of love ends in grief. Even when they set out to affirm our expectations and ideals, great artists have a way of reminding us of the sobering truths that shadow life. We began the week’s readings with Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.” But if we look into the song’s context and closely observe its lyrics, we find social tragedy.
In 1929 a global economic bubble burst and America entered a devastating Depression, dragging the industrialized world with it. Even during the times of prosperity, millions of Americans had toiled in miserable, unhealthy working conditions for starvation wages. Bitter, often lethal class warfare had been roiling between capitalist land and business owners on the one hand and socialist and union activists on the other. When the Depression broke, millions were impoverished and left homeless. Guthrie joined thousands bumming rides in railroad boxcars.
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| Shepard Fairey. (2010). Woody Guthrie. Stencil, mixed media. |
Can you make out the words on Guthrie’s guitar in the painting above? They howl with resistance to the economic injustices of the time: “This machine kills fascists.” And, yes, Guthrie’s guitar really did proclaim that message. Tramping dusty roads and riding the rails with other hoboes, he brought self-awareness and hope to thousands with that beat-up guitar and songs that knew what life was like for society’s outcasts. So let’s look at the last four, forgotten stanzas of Guthrie’s famous song.
Woody Guthrie (1940). “This Land is Your Land”
As I went walking I saw a sign there,
And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.”
But on the other side it didn’t say nothing.
That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
Listen to Guthrie singing his great song: link.
In 1985, during another time of socio-economic upheaval as the manufacturing base of the American economy was dismantled and discarded, Bruce Springsteen returned to Guthrie’s song. In this linked concert video, Springsteen illuminates our reading of Guthrie’s lyrics and our understanding of the American dream. Maybe Woody and “The Boss” sing for you?
References
Fairey, S. (2010). Woody Guthrie. [Painting] https://library-artstor-org.ezproxy.bethel.edu/asset/AWSS35953_35953_35391620.
Guthrie, W. (1940). “This Land is Your Land.” https://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/This_Land.htm.
Guthrie, Woody. (n.d.) Recording of “This Land is Your Land.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxiMrvDbq3s.
Springsteen, Bruce. (September 30, 1985) Performance of “This Land is Your Land.” Live at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yuc4BI5NWU.