This Land is Your Land

Woody Guthrie wrote the original words to this one in 1940 - but not the music (which was added later and recorded in 1944). That melody was lifted from the Carter Family's recording of When the World's on Fire, which had been recorded as Rock of Ages by Blind Willie Davis, a black singer-guitarist from Mississippi.

Dylan's version was very true to Guthrie's original, and no one even knew it existed until it was found while making No Direction Home. It was recorded at the Carnegie Chapter Hall in New York City in 1961.

But the funkiest, horn-iest version of this song has got to be the one by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. She turns this song sideways, inside out, upside down, and then just kills it. I've never heard a more soulful, truthful version of this 3rd grade classic.

(This Land was also George H.W. Bush's song in both campaigns)

Know another? Let us know.

Play: This Land is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
Play: This Land is Your Land - Bob Dylan
Play: This Land is Your Land - Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings