This is Part 1 in a series I am calling after the ellipsis.

I’d recently watched the GasLand documentary. It was scary and a bit over dramatic and all in all is the type of stuff which makes people further entrenched in their positions right or wrong. This post isn’t about the documentary, however.

Early in the film Josh Fox plays a clip of Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land, which if you grew up in America you are certainly familiar with. I distinctly remember singing this tune in school growing up but I struggled to remember the end of the song. I think it is because in all likelihood I (and probably you) were never taught it.

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was 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.

Familiar so far, correct?

I’ve roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And 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,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
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.

Perhaps the above and the rest are excluded as they are undoubtedly more difficult to sing. But it should be noted how difficult it is to find a version of this song with the full lyrics after this point. Please email if you do. The song takes a darker depression era turn from here:

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land 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.