A reader writes:
If you're going to talk about "America the Beautiful", it's probably time to bring up "This Land is Your Land", Woody Guthrie's 1940s folk-ode to the country. It's far superior to "The Star Spangled Banner", in my opinion. But the story behind Woody writing the song is not well known (it was a sarcastic response to Irving Berlin's (still) terrible "God Bless America"), nor have most people ever read the additional/alternate lyrics to the song. Read this 2004 New Yorker piece for a pretty good rundown on Woody, and also the Wikipedia page for the song.
Right now is also a wonderful time to examine Woody's work, even his more controversial political views, in relation to the #OWS movement and our present-day troubles:
There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn't say nothing;
This land was made for you and me.WoodyGuthrie.org has a variant:
As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.It also has this verse:
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?
The Dish 