What Woody Guthrie sang about Jesus

If you were to open your mouth and belt out the words “This land is your land,” you could rest assured that someone nearby would add: “This land is my land.”

The chorus to Woody Guthrie’s 1940 classic is common knowledge… as are the first couple of verses, especially:

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 waters 

This land was made for you and me

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But it isn’t until you get to the later verses — the verses often omitted from official versions — that you start comprehendin’ what good ol’ Woody (1912-1967) had in mind:

As I was walkin’ , I saw a sign there

And that sign said “No tresspassin’”

But on the other side, it didn’t say nothin’

Now that side was made for you and me

In the squares of the city/In the shadow of the steeple

Near the relief office, I see my people

And some are grumblin’ and some are wonderin’

If this land’s still made for you and me

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About “This Land is My Land,” Woody wrote: “This song is Copyrighted in the U.S., under Seal of Copyright # 154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, ‘cause we don’t give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that’s all we wanted to do.”

My favorite Woody Guthrie song, however, is named after someone you might’ve heard of:

Here are the original lyrics:

Click here to hear Woody sing his song:

Click here to hear a more modern version sung by U2:

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Best of all, contribute — every day in every way you can — to creating a culture founded on love and forgiveness, a culture that would never want to “lay Jesus in His grave.”

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