So yes, yesterday marks what would have been Guthrie's centennial and I've had This Land is Your Land stuck in my head since hearing Bob Edwards interview various writers and musicians about him earlier today. I could go a more serious direction with this post, considering the iconic figure that Woody Guthrie is in American history, but that would be totally out of character for this blog, so I'll skip the power-to-the-people-down-with-social-injustice stuff for the moment and just say "gee, what a catchy little tune." And it really is considering that it only has four simple lines of melody that just keep repeating. It's like a broken, but endearing, record. I remember learning it as a kid (the Peter, Paul and Mary version in the house of Moms and Pops) and now I can teach the Springsteen version to Bug. Maybe it's time to learn harmonica.
And as for Guthrie himself, the amount of words he left behind in the form of lyrics, letters, poems, books, etc. is kind of astounding. But out of the bunch I think this is the one I covet most. Cute little feller, isn't he? And what a fabulous way to embellish a letter. Too bad it does in fact render said letter more difficult to read, but hey, as the recipient you are now the owner of an original piece of W.G. art! Lucky you. Now how can I learn to do this with my emails so that when I die rich and famous you will all have something to take to the (piggy) bank?
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