What we can Learn from Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie’s Birthday was yesterday.

The reason I bring this up is because it’s a great excuse to talk about his signature song, This Land is Your Land:

Though you probably know that version, there are three verses that are rarely ever sung because they are considered to be against the song’s patriotic theme:

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
The sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn?t say nothing;
That side was made for you and me.

Hmm.  Acceptance, which is what that verse converses to me, is an American value.

What about the last verse?

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.

Why they don’t sing that one is a great mystery of life.  I would sing it after every terrorist attack, school shooting, etc.

And then there’s this verse:

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the Relief Office, I’d seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?

That is the verse that truly makes you think.  Along with the first verse I showed you, this verse put the song on Conservapedia’s list of “Worst liberal songs” for the apparently anti-American crime of

Attacking the institution of private property, promoting welfare and criticising the poverty that exists under the capitalist system.

The verse gets cut because it conflicts with the patriotic tone of the rest of the song, which, if you ask me, is the reason to include it.  In order to be patriotic, we need to be trying to question and fix our broken systems.

At Barack Obama’s first inauguration, Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger sang the song, including the forbidden verses:

They made one big change, replacing the third to last verse, the one about poverty, with:

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the Relief Office, I’d seen my people.As they stood hungry, I stood there whistling,
This land was made for you and me.

And that, my friend is what the world was like in 2009.  I wish I could say it has changed for the bettr.  However, due to the way Congress has acted, I can’t say that.  Sure, Obama has made some mistakes.  But if Congress actually passed all those bills: the Manchin-Toomey Bill, for instance; than America would be significantly better.

The complete rejection of food stamps in order to gain support from the Conservative wing of the GOP (who lost the popular vote by 1 million in 2012 and still are the majority party in the House), is just another examples of how the interests of big corporations are being put before those of the people.

So while we lobby our representatives, praying that the will of the people will overcome gerrymandering in 2014, we find ourselves singing once again:

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the Relief Office, I’d seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?