This Land Is My Land, This Land Is Your Land
Poster by Shepard Fairey
(Click photo to enlarge)
This Land is Your Land (onscreen lyrics) by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
From Liner Notes for Americana by Neil Young & Crazy Horse:
This Land Is Your Land
This folk song was written by Woody Guthrie in the 1940s to a pre-existing melody as a response to “God Bless America” which Guthrie was tired of hearing. The lyrics Guthrie sang varied over time, but the lyrics sung in the Americana version were in the original manuscript of the song.
Woody Guthrie
Mixed media (stencil, silkscreen, and collage) on canvas
(Click photo to enlarge)
Neil Young's Americana album with Crazy Horse last year has definitely struck a chord which is resonating not only across Americana but the Old World as well.
The songs on Americana reinterpret traditional folk songs in such a way as to breath new life and meaning into them to such an extent as to be almost unrecognizable to those who learned the songs in their childhood.
So how's that "Americana Dream" thing working out these days? Liberty and justice for all, don't you know.
happy independence day!
let freedom ring.
peace
thrasher & thrashette
~~ Benjamin Franklin, Pennslvania Assembly Reply to the Governor, 1755
Labels: neil young
6 Comments:
I thought 'Americana' a nice surprise from Neil. I've always thought he had a talent for interpreting other people's work, like 'On Broadway' or 'Farmer John' with the grunge treatment, or even 'Wayward Wind' with its strings. We may recall that the first three tracks on 'Americana' are renditions of old songs he played with the Squires, so what he did with these songs shouldn't be too surprising. I can also understand why he added that 11th and final track 'God Save the Queen'. He remembers from his youth, as I do, standing up in school for that song. Perhaps someday we'll see an 'American II', perhaps acoustic versions this time. Anything is possible with Neil, and this is why it's so interesting following this man's career.
BAVO THRASHER!
President-elect John F. Kennedy said, in an address to the Massachusetts Legislature on January 9, 1961, “During the last 60 days I have been engaged in the task of constructing an administration…. I have been guided by the standard John Winthrop set before his shipmates on the flagship Arabella [sic] 331 years ago, as they, too, faced the task of building a government on a new and perilous frontier. ‘We must always consider,’ he said, ‘that we shall be as a city upon a hill—the eyes of all people are upon us.’ Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us—and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, State, and local, must be as a city upon a hill—constructed and inhabited by men aware of their grave trust and their great responsibilities.”
Must adnit I think Springsteen's Live version is far better than Neil's on Americana but neither are anywhere near as good as this. Brilliant in its simplicity.
America is beautiful
But she has an ugly side
We're lookin' for a leader
In this country far and wide
We did not think of the great open plains, the beautiful rolling hills, and the winding streams with tangled growth as 'wild'. Only to the white man was nature a wilderness and only to him was the land infested with wild animals and savage people. To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded by with the blessings of the Great Mystery. Not until the hairy man came East and with brutal frenzy heaped injustices upon us and the familes we loved was it wild for us. When the very animals of the forest began fleeiing, then it was for us the Wild West.
Standing Bear of the Oglala band of Sioux - whos's land?
Hey Thrasher and all,
Just a heads up to take a look at the new Third Man Records Vault package. It's the 17th quarterly release from The Vault. (kinda like Neil's Archives) Anyway it's a good one with some Neil content not available anywhere else. I've got all 16 releases so far...
Syscrusher
i was wondering if Neil and ol' Jack bonded over their love of live-to-tape recording.
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