THIS LAND IS OUR LAND? GUTHRIE'S UNCUT, UNCENSORED LYRICS

Irving Berlin wrote "God Bless America" in the form of a non denominational patriotic prayer

--- note introduction lyrics "as we raise our voices, in a solemn prayer" for God's blessing and peace for the nation "stand beside her and guide her through the night" --- Berlin originally wrote the song in 1918 while serving in the U.S. Army but decided that it did not fit in his revue Yip Yip Yaphank, so he set it aside. His lyrics included the line, "Make her victorious on land and foam, God bless America..." as well as "Stand beside her and guide her, to the right with the light from above."

Music critic Jody Rosen discovered a 1906 Jewish dialect novelty song, "When Mose with His Nose Leads the Band", contains a six-note fragment that is "instantly recognizable as the opening strains of "God Bless America." He interprets this as an example of Berlin's "habit of interpolating bits of half-remembered songs into his own numbers." Berlin, born Israel Baline, had himself written several Jewish-themed novelty tunes.

In 1938, as Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich became more militaristic and belligerent, Berlin, a first-generation Jewish European immigrant, decided to revive the song as a "peace song." Kate Smith premiered it on the 1938 Armistice Day broadcast of her radio show. Berlin made some minor changes: people might have interpreted "to the right" as a call to the political right, so he substituted "through the night" instead. He also provided an introduction that is now rarely heard but which Kate Smith always used:

"While the storm clouds gather far across the sea /

Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free /

Let us all be grateful for a land so fair /

As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer."

Meanwhile, folk singer compose Woody Guthrie disliked the song because it lacked detail of the real America. So he wrote his own patriotic song. Some of the verses rarely get sung in public though, even though those particular versus seem starkly modern.

This Land is Your Land
Woody Guthrie
Original 1944 Lyrics

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
While all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,
This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn't say nothing;
This land was made for you and me.

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.

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.

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?


Confirmation of two other verses

A March 1944 recording in the possession of the Smithsonian, the earliest known recording of the song, has the "private property" verse included. This version was recorded the same day as 75 other songs. This was confirmed by several archivists for Smithsonian interviewed as part of the History Channel program Save Our History - Save our Sounds. The 1944 recording with this fourth verse can be found on Woody Guthrie: This Land is Your Land: The Asch Recordings Volume 1, where it is track 14.


This Land Is Your Land
Woody Guthrie
1956 Lyrics

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

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.