Woody Guthrie

Is This Land Made for You and Me?

Mindi Kirchner
English 6923: Working Class Literature
Fall 2005

Introduction

Though Woody Guthrie only lived a short 55 years, his lyrics never stopped pressing for an answer to the ever-present question --Is this land made for you and me? Guthrie may not have firmly answered that question in his large collection of work, but clearly, as both folk legend and spokesman for the working class, he believed resolutely in worker's rights and equality among all people, regardless of class status. Guthrie's impassioned lyrics and political views continue to permeate the world of folk music today. Specifically, musicians like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Ani Difranco, and Steve Earle have adopted similar lyrical themes and the singer-songwriter style that dominates Guthrie's music.

As both a musician who addressed the concerns of the working class and a member of working-class society himself, Guthrie conveys a rare sense of authenticity in his raspy voice. Guthrie, who was born in 1912 to a local politician and chronically ill mother, began composing songs about his own struggles and economic hardships during The Great Depression. His hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma was also heavily impacted by the Great Dust Storm in 1935. As a result of these tragic experiences, Guthrie addressed themes of poverty, hunger, and unemployment in his music. Eventually, outraged by his own life events and similar patterns reflected in lives' of the working-class, his music began to incorporate his own political ideologies.

Since Guthrie was often out of work, he spent much of his life drifting across the Mid-West and dedicating himself to creating social change. Some of his more popular songs that explore his desire to create change include, "Talking Dust Bowl Blues," "Tom Joad," and "Hard Travelin." Guthrie eventually settled in New York, where he sang with the politically active group, The Almanac Singers. He continued to perform until 1954 when he was diagnosed with the genetic illness, Huntington's chorea. After a lengthy battle with the disease, Guthrie died in 1967.

Discussion of author's work

In addition to being a pioneer of folk/protest music, Guthrie's lyrics address many themes prevalent in working-class literature. Though Guthrie also wrote songs like, "Mail Myself to You," and "My Flying Saucer," which function primarily as humor pieces, the bulk of his work focuses on worker's rights, poverty, and societal critiques. Though in part dismissed by mainstream society as "too radical", Guthrie continued composing songs about what he witnessed, what he struggled with intellectually and emotionally, and political situations in America. One particular song that demonstrates how Guthrie used emotional appeal to metaphorically "transport" the listener into the worker's world is "The Dying Miner." In this song, Guthrie adopts the persona of a coal miner who is trapped in a work-related fire. Guthrie sings,

It looks like the end for me

And for all of my buddies I see

We're all writing letters on state rock walls,

Please carry my word to my wife.

In "The Dying Miner"and several other of his songs, Guthrie used persona and vivid description to accomplish what Janet Zandy, a prominent figure in working-class literature, defines as "getting inside the skin of the worker." Oftentimes, Guthrie used dark subject matter in his narrative songs to more effectively capture the listener's mind. However, it would perhaps be a mistake to assume that his bleak subject matter is indicative of Guthrie's own vision of the world. In general, these hauntingly dark songs were created in an effort to evoke societal change, not to doom society to inevitable failure.

 

Another reason for Guthrie's success as folk hero was his use of a time-specific working-class dialect. The fact that he spoke relatively plain language and deviated from Standard American English possibly contributes to his largely working-class audience. Unlike many working-class texts, like Rebecca Harding Davis's, Life in the Iron Mills, which was written primarily for a middle-class audience, Guthrie spoke directly to the working class. Also, the simple fact that Guthrie was a singer in addition to being a writer made him accessible to larger audiences, including those who could not read.

Despite Guthrie's lack of superfluous language and imagery in his songs, he still managed to create songs of political and social relevance. Perhaps another reason for his continued success and distinctiveness was his complete ability to take an unwavering stance on nearly every issue. Instead of wrapping his words around difficult concepts and ideas, Guthrie's song lyrics are direct and unrepentant appeals to a working-class audience. One example of Guthrie's blatant honesty is demonstrated clearly in the song, "All You Fascists." In this song, Guthrie encourages the working class to develop solidarity with the lyrics, "People of every color, marching side to side, marching 'cross these fields where a million fascists dies, you're bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose."

Although Guthrie may not have determined whether or not this land is truly "made for you and me" he possibly did something even more significant with his lyrics. Instead of simply answering questions for his audience, Guthrie challenged them to devise positive change for their own lives, their communities, and the world at large. Many of the themes that Guthrie approaches in his lyrics still resonate with today's listener because, unfortunately, concepts like poverty and worker's rights remain highly relevant in working-class communities. Guthrie reminded his listeners then, as he continues to remind them today, that in order to positively impact worker's lives, we must first learn to view the world with a critical and unafraid eye.

Annotated Bibliography

Woody Guthrie Biographies

Davidson, Emily and Robert Santelli, eds. Hard Travelin.New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 1999.

This book offers detailed accounts of Woody Guthrie's life and music. Several sections including, Democratic Visions, Democratic Voices: Woody as Writer, and Woody the Red?discuss Guthrie's literary techniques and debate his ties to the Communist Party.

Garman, Bryan. Race of Singers: Whitman's Working-Class Hero from Guthrie to Springsteen. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000.

This book offers detailed information about working-class music within various historical contexts. Several chapters explore Guthrie's political beliefs and the beliefs of folk-singers who succeeded him; like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.

Lomax, Alan, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger. 2nd ed. Hard Hitting Songs for Hard Hit People. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1999.

This book discusses Guthrie's folk songs with an introduction by Pete Seeger. This book also offers a fairly comprehensive discussion about the bulk of working class songs in America; from the ballad to later musicians like Bob Dylan.

Original Works by Woody Guthrie

Guthrie, Woody. "The Dying Miner." Struggle. Ludlow Music, 1947.

This song narrates the experience of a miner trapped in a fire. Guthrie uses persona and emotional appeal to literally force the listener to identify with this miner's horrific experience.

Guthrie, Woody. "This Land Is Your Land." The Very Best of Woody Guthrie. Ludlow Music, 1951.

In perhaps his most popular song, Guthrie prompts his listeners to consider the beauty of America, and asks them to question the rights of the working class.

Web Resources

The Official Woody Guthrie Website

This website contains Guthrie's lyrics, popular quotes, and biography. The site also has curriculum planning guides for teachers to use Guthrie's folk music in the classroom. This is an excellent resource for someone who is fairly unfamiliar with Guthrie and his work.

Woody Guthrie Song Lyrics

This website gives a detailed listing of Guthrie's songs and their lyrics.

Bob Dylan's Dedication

This website gives the lyrics to the song Dylan wrote for Guthrie.