When the sun came shining, and I was strollingĪnd the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rollingĪ voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting, To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steepleĪs they stood hungry, I stood there wondering ifĪccording to Joe Klein, after Guthrie composed it "he completely forgot about the song, and didn't do anything with it for another five years." (Since there is a March 1944 recording of the song, Klein should have said "four years".)įrom the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting: In wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling When the sun come shining, then I was strolling Was a big high wall there that tried to stop meĪ sign was painted said: Private Property,īut on the back side it didn't say nothing. To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts, I roamed and rambled, and followed my footsteps This land is your land, this land is my landįrom California to the Staten New York Island,įrom the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,Īnd saw below me the golden valley, I said:
It appears therefore that the original 1940 title was "This Land". The original title was "God Blessed America", but it was struck out and replaced by "This Land Was Made For You & Me". The line "This land was made for you and me" does not literally appear in the manuscript at the end of each verse, but is implied by Guthrie's writing of those words at the top of the page and by his subsequent singing of the line with those words. (101 West 43rd St.) in New York, showing his strikeouts. Original 1940 lyrics įollowing are the original lyrics as composed on February 23, 1940, in Guthrie's room at the Hanover House hotel at 43rd St. In other words, Guthrie repeats the beginning of the melody (the "A" section) for his third line the melodic phrase for his fourth line ("This land was made for you and me") is found in neither the hymn nor the Carter Family melodies. The melodic structure of the presumed model(s) can be described as "ABCD"-a new melodic phrase for each of its four lines. Guthrie's song, however, had a different melodic structure from the hymn or the similar Carter Family melodies, and he used only the first half of those melodies in his song. Guthrie's melody was very similar to the melody of "Oh, My Loving Brother", a Baptist gospel hymn that had been recorded by the Carter Family as "When the World's On Fire" and had inspired their "Little Darlin', Pal of Mine." He used the same melody for the chorus and the verses. 5.3 In film, television, internet, books, and advertising.