Album of the Day: Original Rockers

Augustus Pablo was a roots reggae and dub artist born in St. Andrew, Jamaica in 1953.
On many of his recordings, you could hear Pablo's fascination with the melodica, a free-reed instrument that resembles the sound of a maladeon or harmonica.

I would not hesitate to listen to this album. I guarantee you will not be dissatisfied.

This Land Is Your Land...or is it?

In case you didn't know already, "This Land is Your Land" was a song first published by Woody Guthrie in 1940.  It was written as a response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America," which was seen by Guthrie as very unrealistic and dry.
The song was not published by company, however, until 1951 and was then put into a collection of 10 works in a pamphlet complete with drawings. In 2002 Library of Congress had the song added to the National Recording Registry.

The real reason I posted this article is due to the fact of the "secret" last verses that many of us weren't taught in school or were released to the public and considering the year it was distributed one can only guess why:


 Original 1944 release:

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York Islands

From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters

This land was made for you and me.

As I went 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.

I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts

While all around me a voice was sounding

This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling

And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling

A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,

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.

 

 Alternate verses:

 

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.

 

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.

 

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 fourth verse can be found on Woody Guthrie: This Land is Your Land: The Asch Recordings Volume 1, track 14.