who sang they say this is a big rich town

Guthrie viewed folk music as a potent means of protest. He entertained sailors and troops with songs blasting fascism, the brutal, nationalistic system of government operated by Germany’s Adolf Hitler and Italy’s Benito Mussolini. During World War II, though, he served in the Merchant Marine and U.S. He was drawn toward the plight of American workers and embraced socialist beliefs. As he wandered, he became increasingly critical of the injustice he associated with American capitalism. The teenager began to travel the country, strumming his guitar and singing for coins. He and his brother were left to fend for themselves. His mom had a nervous breakdown and was committed to the state mental hospital. Guthrie’s sister died in a fire and his dad’s business collapsed. Tragedy and trouble began to mount after 1919. The Guthries were the first people in town to own a car. His dad was a successful real estate wheeler-dealer. Named for the soon-to-be-elected Democratic candidate for president, Guthrie remembered an early boyhood full of music, singing, and plenty of pocket money. Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was born in the small town of Okemah, Oklahoma, on July 14, 1912. In the squares of the city, in the shadow of the steeple,Īs they stood there hungry, I stood there asking When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,Īnd the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,Īs the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:Īnd on the sign it said 'No Trespassing.'īut on the other side it didn't say nothing, To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps This is the story behind “This Land is Your Land.”īy Woody Guthrie This land is your land, this land is my landįrom the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters At the same time, he wanted to point out that a lot of Americans weren’t feeling blessed at all. In reaction to “God Bless America,” he worked up a simple song that tried to capture his love of the American landscape. In February 1940, Guthrie decided to fight music with music. Along the way, he chronicled their adventures, dreams, and sorrows in song. He shared the road with former farmers, laid-off factory workers, and migrants chasing hopes of work. Since his teens, he had hopped trains and hitchhiked back and forth across the country. Guthrie knew firsthand how tough life could be for poor folks. Guthrie felt that Irving Berlin’s song was too sappy, too blindly patriotic, and too cut off from the hard-knock life many Americans were facing as the Great Depression dragged into its 10th year.

The year was 1939, and everywhere he wandered, “ God Bless America” was playing on the radio. Folk singer Woody Guthrie was sick of THAT song.

Who sang they say this is a big rich town