Born in 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma, Woodrow Wilson Guthrie, named after the current president, saw the struggles of American life early on. He was the second-born son of Charles and Nora Belle Guthrie (IMDB, 2015). Woody learned Western songs, Indian songs, and Scottish folk tunes from his father, who was a cowboy, land speculator, and local politician. His mother, born in Kansas, also musically inclined, had an equally substantial influence on Woody. Throughout his life, Guthrie was heavily influenced by the music and landscape he was exposed. The lifestyle surrounding him made lasting impressions on him. In Woody's first few years in Okemah, everything around him began to spiral down, from the accidental death of his sister Clara to his family's financial fallout to the passing of is mother after a brief period of being institutionalized, his childhood crumbled. Things turned around however in 1920, when Okemah became an "oil boom" town, meaning that overnight, the small-time rural area was rushed and filled with industrial workers and hustlers. However, eventually the oil would have to run dry, and it did. The city suffered a severe economic downturn and became a dump leaving the civilians to be known as "busted, disgusted, and not to be trusted" (Woody Gutrie Publications, 2013).
In 1938, Irving Berlin released a single called "God Bless America," which gained mass popularity. In response to hearing this song, Guthrie felt compelled to publicly respond to that song; he entitled it "God Blessed America for Me" in February of 1940. The title was later crossed and the song title was changed to "This Land" later to be extended to "This Land is Your Land." It was thereafter recorded in 1944 and released in 1945 granting Guthrie his rise to fame. Woody also gained large-scale popularity with his famous quote "this machine kills fascists" (PBS, 2015). |