This Land Is Your Land written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie

This Land Is Your Land
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This Land Is Your Land
‘This land is your land’ written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie is one of the most popular American Folk song. It was written originally in the year 1940 on 23rd February precisely in his room at Hanover House at the 43rd street and 6th avenue in New York. The folk song is based on an existing melody, the carter family tune known as ‘when the world is on fire’, in critical response to Irving Berlins ‘God Bless America’. Guthrie initially named it “God Blessed America for Me” then named it ‘This Land Is Your Land’. It is believed that he wrote this song out of boredom of listening to Kate Smith’s ‘God Bless America’
Woody’s melody was similar to that of “Oh, My Loving Brother” a gospel hymn that had been recorded by the carter family same as “When the World’s On Fire”. It is worthwhile noting that he used the same melody for the verses and the chorus. However, woody’s song had a different melodic structure from that of the Carter’s family melody. Woody only used the first half of those melodies in his. The melodic structure of the Carter’s can be described as “ABCD” that is a new melodic phrase for each of its four lines while that of woody can be described as “ABAC” that is repeating the beginning of the melody for his third line; the phrase for his fourth line is found in neither of the Carter’s melodies.
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