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The GoodLetter Thursday, July 4, 2002
GoodThings, Inc. :: Stories, actions, ideas, and greeting cards that connect us.
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This Week's Feature
Whose Land Is This Land?
As a purveyor of songs that existed to make a difference, Woody Guthrie created a "national anthem" for the ages and left a legacy of true patriotism.
Dear GoodLetter readers,
On a recent trip to Atlanta, I saw a stage production of Woody Guthrie's American Song, a musical charting life in the Depression-era United States through Guthrie's music. The show is bursting with rousing performances of songs from across the Guthrie catalog and is narrated by a diverse cast of women and men, people of different classes and ethnicities, all of whom represent Guthrie and the America he knew. Compiled, his songs amount to a history lesson, with every single one demanding what I like to call "active listening." I had long had an appreciation for Guthrie's music and for This Land Is Your Land, but it wasn't until I saw and heard the song performed in the context of this show that I realized how truly profound and powerful it is. The goosebumps all over my arms and the lump in my throat were evidence that it had stirred my soul and captured my imagination in ways that more traditional patriotic songs never can and never will.
This weekend marks the Independence Day holiday here in the United States, and the pomp and circumstance of the nation's oft-played anthems will define the occasion perhaps as much as our newfound thirst for security. Such songs are typically played with pride and fill our hearts with a vision of America through its landscapes, its individualism, its triumphs, its freedoms -- the kinds of things that tend to stir people's rawest emotions. For me, though, where America makes the most sense is in the words of Guthrie, a man who loved his country but wasn't afraid to ask hard questions about it.
In 1952, Woody Guthrie recorded This Land Is Your Land at the twilight of his career, when the Huntington's disease that would kill him fifteen years later was already taking a heavy toll on his body. He had spent nearly two decades traveling the country, establishing the kind of resonant legacy that has inspired everyone from Bob Dylan to the youngest of today's singer-songwriters. Like many Americans after the Depression, Guthrie had left the Dust Bowl for the promise of work in the rapidly developing West. Along the way, though, he learned firsthand that a better future was more elusive than he might once have thought, particularly for those who were a generation or two removed from the massive influx of Gold Rush opportunists. Soon, his rambling, personal songs became his way of making sense of the world as he knew it. They became his journal of America -- of its working families, its immigrants and migrant farmers, its forgotten and disenfranchised, and its eternally hopeful. And they culminated in the recording of his most enduring song.
The first verse of the song is as familiar as any American song ever written:
"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."
This Land Is Your Land is one of those uncommon songs that is both proud and critical. It acknowledges America as the kind of place that could both welcome and -- paradoxically -- turn its back on people at the same time. Guthrie was often accused of being unpatriotic, of being sympathetic to "un-American" ideals, of not being dedicated enough to the "American way of life." But in truth, he was an ardent believer in the principles upon which the country was founded -- individual liberties, community spirit, freedom of opportunity, equality, democracy -- the same principles that have long beckoned people from around the world. Indeed, his patriotism was incontrovertible. But he wasn't blind. He could relish the majesty of America's "Gulf stream waters" and "diamond deserts," but he could also take issue with its "no trespassin'" signs and express concerns for the hungry people in "relief office" lines. Given a political climate of the time that still lingers, it's no real surprise that the protests of the final three verses of This Land Is Your Land were often left out of the song and have been all but forgotten over the years. But when he sang in the final verse, "Nobody living can ever stop me / As I go walking / That freedom highway," there's no mistaking what he was living for or how American he considered himself to be.
Since September 11, we've heard a lot of talk about whom America is "for" and what it supposedly means to be patriotic. In spite of our fears and sometimes in direct affront to our biases, however, this land -- as Woody Guthrie said it best -- still exists for "you and me," regardless of who "you" or "I" happen to be.
Have a great Independence Day.
:: Wood Turner
Editor/Publisher, GoodThings, Inc.
Seattle, Washington
(Thoughts on this GoodLetter? Inspired by what you've read? E-mail us -- don't forget to tell us your name, where you're from, and if we can use your words in a future GoodLetter or on our Web site.)
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Readers Respond
Thanks to so many of you for sharing your thoughts and ideas about recent GoodLetters. Last week, we featured Jen Chapin's GoodLetter about how actively listening to some of our favorite music can educate us and inspire us to make positive change. At least one reader thought Jen Chapin's name and passion for making a difference sounded familiar:
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Dear GoodThings,
Is Jen Chapin related to Harry? She's on the board of Harry's charitable organization, World Hunger Year (WHY), so it makes sense -- and she uses music for activism and consciousness-raising, just as Harry did for many years.
If she is related to him, it would be useful to provide information on Harry's work as well as hers, so people who appreciate activist musicians could know more about his accomplishments. Harry Chapin was underappreciated in his too-short lifetime -- he wasn't just the guy who recorded Taxi and W.O.L.D. In fact, the last years of his life were dedicated as much to WHY as to his career. The importance of his work can't be overstated, and many who read GoodThings might be more interested in supporting WHY if they read about his efforts to found and support it during his lifetime.
Thanks for the article and thanks for listening.
Pamela Drake Gregory
Brooklyn, New York
FROM THE EDITOR: Yes, Pamela, Jen is the daughter of the late folk singer and activist Harry Chapin, who -- in addition to the songs you mention -- also wrote the powerful song, Cat's in the Cradle. Thanks for your careful read of Jen's GoodLetter. To learn more about Harry Chapin's legacy in music, at World Hunger Year, and beyond, the following Web sites are wonderful places to start:
:: Jen Chapin's Web site
:: HarryChapin.com
:: World Hunger Year
:: HarrysFriends.com
:: HarryChapinMusic.com
:: Cat's in the Cradle
:: Did you miss Jen Chapin's GoodLetter [#93, "Can A Song Make A Difference?"]? Read it now.
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Don't forget our new feature, Good Gratitude. We launch it next week, so keep your thank-you letters coming! Let the world know how much you appreciate the people who have made a difference in your life. Send your best thank-you letters to gratitude@goodthings.com -- and don't forget to tell us your name and where you're from.
We love to hear from you about anything: ideas or situations that are inspiring you or challenging you to think, as well as organizations, programs, and people that contribute to your community and the world everyday. Please drop us a line.
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GoodThings on Public Radio
GoodThings on Public Radio is taking the week off and will resume in the July 11 issue of the GoodLetter. In the meantime, you can read full summaries of our favorite public radio stories from last week and then pick your personal favorites and listen to them.
The Upshot
The Upshot will be back next week, too! Have a great weekend.
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