[grania]

Pete Seeger preserved and made popular a lot of traditional US folk music. He championed using music as a means to express oneself. That he was a communist does not stop "This Land is Your Land" and many of his other songs from being excellent expressions of joy and patriotism.

I don't agree with his politics. That does not prevent me from appreciating his contribution to a great era in music, which is now over.

[Borges]

Woody Guthrie wrote ‘This Land is Your Land’

[dfwgator]

Have you ever read all the lyrics to “This Land Is Your Land”?

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.

[ThomasMore]

“This Land Is Your Land” is one of the United States’ most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing melody, in critical response to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”, which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. Tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on the radio, he wrote a response originally called “God Blessed America”.[1] Guthrie varied the lyrics over time, sometimes including more overtly political verses in line with his sympathetic views of communism,[2] than appear in recordings or publications.

The song wasn’t sung by Seeger until...

The song was sung by Springsteen and Pete Seeger, accompanied by Seeger’s grandson, Tao Rodríguez-Seeger, at We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial on January 18, 2009.

This song reeks of commie sentiment.