This Land Is Your Land (Okemah Version)
From the Album It Takes a Lot of People (Tribute to Woody Guthrie)
As I was 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.
Nobody living can ever stop us,
As we go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make us turn back
This land was made for you and me.
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.
(Okemah students recitations from their original reflections)
The country could be beautiful, if it was clean. Today the sunrise was a redish color and I don’t want the country to have a lot of trash on the street or anywhere.
I like the United States because we’re free and nobody can tell us what to do, or where. We have the freedom to complain to the Governor. We have the freedom to choose what to it eat and choose what time to practice and for how long.
Beautiful and bright. The yellow sunrise and blue sky. Birds tweating. So happy that God let us have another day to enjoy the world again.
What I like about the Constition is that people can speak what they want to.
One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the relief office I saw my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?
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.
(Larry Long’s spoken words)
You know Woody. Woody wasn’t off to become a big star, a big celebrity. What Woody was about was building up the people. He wanted to bring up everybody. The thing that Woody loved to hear is the voices of the people singing, so with this tribute to Woody we will let you sing it back to us.
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.
Words & music by Woody Guthrie
Arranged by Larry Long
Copyright 1956 (renewed), 1958 (renewed), 1970 and 1972 by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)
*Lyrics as sung on It Takes a Lot of People by Larry Long & Children from Oklahoma
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