This Land is Your Land - a song by Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie's original lyrics to "This Land is Your Land":
stanzas 4, 5, and 6 (in bold italics below) are usually censored out, but are essential
to conveying the full meaning of Woody's song.
Pete Seeger performed at the inauguration of President Obama in Washington in 2009.
He sang these censored verses, and as a result, even though the song is one of the best known of American folk songs,
many people heard these verses for the first time in their lives.
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
chorus
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 water
This land was made for you and me
As I was walkin', that ribbon of highway
I saw above me, that endless skyway
I saw below me, that golden valley
I said this land was made for you and me
I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sand of her diamond desert
And all around me, a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me
Down in the city, in the shadow of the steeple
By the relief office, I saw my people
As they stood there hungry I stood there whistling:
This land was made for you and me
As I went walking, I saw a sign there
And on that sign it said "Private Property"
But on the other side it didn't say nothin'
That side was made for you and me !
Nobody living can ever stop me
As I go walking my freedom highway
Nobody living can make me turn back, cuz
This land was made for you and me
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
- Woody Guthrie