{"id":3357,"date":"2018-04-16T19:41:11","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T00:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=3357"},"modified":"2018-04-19T16:03:23","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T21:03:23","slug":"ending-on-a-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2018\/04\/16\/ending-on-a-question\/","title":{"rendered":"Ending On a Question"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Fourth of July weekend, I attended church with some family friends. After the service everyone gathered in back to sing some patriotic songs together. One of those songs, I remember, was \u201cThis Land Is Your Land\u201d by Woody Guthrie. I didn\u2019t find anything curious about it at the time–the lyrics were fitting for the occasion. But then I learned when the song was written and what the original lyrics were. (Spoiler alert: We were not singing all the original lyrics.)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Post-1944 lyrics taken from the official website<\/a> of Woody Guthrie<\/p><\/div>\n

During the Great Depression, Irving Berlin\u2019s \u201cGod Bless America\u201d became an optimistic anthem for the hard times. In 1940, Woody Guthrie wrote \u201cGod Blessed America for Me\u201d, with the phrase repeated at the end of each verse, in response to Berlin’s hit song.1<\/sup><\/a> The lyrics were meant to capture a more accurate image of the United States, still celebrating the land but \u201cwithout glossing over its imperfections or pretending that all in America were blessed equally.\u201d2<\/sup><\/a> The last couple verses were especially overt in their political protest, and–what I find most fascinating–the song ended on a question: \u201cI stood there wondering, if God blessed America for me.\u201d3<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

When Woody Guthrie changed the title to \u201cThis Land Is Your Land\u201d in 1944, he altered the repeated lyric to \u201cThis land was made for you and me.\u201d4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Thus, his message became a lot more inclusive. This turned the ending question into \u201cI stood there asking, Is this land made for you and me?\u201d However, in his 1947 recording, he left out the two protest verses but added another verse (“Nobody living can ever stop me…”). While previous versions have been very difficult to find, this is the version that has become most well-known.5<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n