This Land Is Your Land
A public domain song that is about the public domain, iTunes initially objected to my releasing this due to copyright ownership, but after a lengthy email debate defending my rights, I ultimately won. Should've stuck with law school I guess. In the true folk tradition, I took the liberty of editing some of Woody's lyrics here and there.
"This Land Is Your Land"
Traditional, Arranged by Scott Cooley. Written by Woody Guthrie.
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.
As I went walking that ribbon of highway,
And I saw above me, that endless skyway,
I saw below me, that Golden Valley;
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.
I roamed and rambled, and followed my footsteps
Through the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
And all around me a voice was sounding,
"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.
There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me
The sign was painted, said private property
But on the back side, it didn’t say nothing
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 Canadian mountains to the Gulf Stream waters;
This land was made for you and me.
As the Sun was shining, and I was strolling
Through 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.
Sound Recording Published ℗ 2010 by Scott Cooley. No rights reserved. Friends of ourn: we don't give a dern what you do with this recording.
I had to fight with iTunes over releasing this one, and after doing my homework, I won!
International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) #: USTCF1021688
Copyright Information:
This song was first published by Woody Guthrie in 1945, although the copyright was not registered until 1956, and has in fact been in the public domain since 1973 (28 years from first publication).[94]
On his records in the early 1940s Woody Guthrie included the following “Copyright Warning”:
“This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright # 154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don’t give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that’s all we wanted to do.”[91]