Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthriewas an American singer-songwriter and musician whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional, and children's songs, along with ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This machine kills fascists displayed on his guitar. His best-known song is "This Land Is Your Land". Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. Songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Hunter, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger,...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionFolk Singer
Date of Birth14 July 1912
CityOkemah, OK
CountryUnited States of America
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. 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.
Life's pretty tough . . . you're lucky if you live through it.
The words are the important thing. Don't worry about tunes. Take a tune, sing high when they sing low, sing fast when they sing slow, and you've got a new tune.
Life has a habit of not staying hitched. You got to ride it like you find it.
This land is made for you and me.
If you want to learn something, just steal it.
A song ain't nothing but a conversation fixed up to where you can talk it over and over without getting tired of it.
It's round the world I've traveled; it's round the world I've roamed; but I've yet to see an outlaw drive a family from its home
I worked in your orchards of peaches and prunes. I slept on the ground in the light of the moon. On the edge of the city you'll see us and then, we come with the dust and we go with the wind.
I know the police cause you trouble They cause trouble everywhere But when you die and go to heaven You find no policeman there
Uncle Sam took up the challenge in the year of '33 For the farmer and the factory and all of you and me. He said, "Roll along Columbia. You can ramble to the sea, But river while you're ramblin' you can do some work for me."
You oil field workers, come and listen to me I'm goin' to tell you a story about old John D. That company union made a fool out of me. That company union don't charge no dues It leaves you a-singing them Rockefeller blues. That company union made a fool out of me. Takes that good ole C.I.O., boys To keep that oil a-rollin', rollin' over the sea. Takes that good ole C.I.O., boys To keep that oil a-rollin' over the sea.
I got started in Oklahoma. That's where I was born. Population down there is one-third Indians, one-third Negroes and one-third white people.
Now as I look around, it's mighty plain to see, This world is such a great and a funny place to be. Oh, the gamblin' man is rich, an' the workin' man is poor, And I ain't got no home in this world anymore.