"BOMBS BURSTING IN AIR"? NO THANKS.

It's a simple song, simple enough that you learn it in grade school. It's written by one of America's greatest songwriters and it's one of the best songs about America ever written. Maybe it's lost it's shine for grade school, but I don't remember ever not knowing the song. Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" is ingrained in my head. And most people have only heard two thirds of it.

A year ago Mental Floss posted a story about the song that speculates that the two missing verses were omitted because of what could be perceived as political content, but to me read more like truth and common sense. Per the article "It may have had something to do with the mounting anti-communist furor that would lead to the Red Scare of the late '40s and early '50s." The article includes the two missing verses and an anecdote about how, when Bruce Springsteen joined Pete Seeger to play the song at an inauguration event for Barack Obama, Seeger was insistent that they include the two verses.

My favorite version of the song is the one recorded by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. It's a groove and a half, really, an awesome reworking. They include the two additional verses and another with slightly re-written lyrics. But, guess what? There was a real seventh verse too, one that I'd not known about until I looked at the official Woody Guthrie web site, run by his daughter. There's a link to it below. Remember, "Antifa" means anti-fascist. To be anti-fascist is to be patriotic. Happy 4th.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~ 

Listen:
Woody Guthrie - This Land Is Your Land mp3 at Rocky 52
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - This Land Is Your Land mp3 at Tumblr
Video:
Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen - This Land Is Your Land (live) at YouTube
Visit:

This Land Is Your Land: The Story Behind America's Best-Known Protest Song at Mental Floss
Woody Guthrie official site - Full lyrics