Philip Nel > Courses > American Studies 201: Introduction to American Studies (Spring 1998) > Some Music from the 1930s > "God Bless America" and "This Land Is Your Land"

 

"God Bless America"

Words and Music by Irving Berlin

As recorded by Kate Smith (1939)

 

God bless America, land that I love

Stand beside her and guide her

Through the night with the light from above

From the mountains to the prairies, to the ocean white with foam --

God bless America, my home sweet home

 

(Repeat)

 

---

 

"This Land Is Your Land"

Words and Music by Woody Guthrie (1940)

As recorded by Woody Guthrie in the early 1940s (exact date unknown)

 

This land is your land, and this land is my land

From the 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 rambled and I followed my footsteps

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts

All around me a voice was sounding --

This land was made for you and me

 

Was a big high wall there that tried to stop me

A sign was painted said: Private Property

But on the back side it didn't say nothing --

This land was made for you and me

 

One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple

By the Relief Office I saw my people --

As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if

This land was made for you and me

 

When the sun comes shining and I was strolling

And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling

The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting

This land was made for you and me

 

This land is your land, and this land is my land

From the California, to the New York island

From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf Stream waters

This land was made for you and me

Guthrie said that he wrote this song because he was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing "God Bless America." In fact, before Guthrie changed each verse's concluding line to "This land was made for you and me," he ended each verse with "God blessed America for you and me."