THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND

By Bruce Springsteen, Live at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA on September 30, 1985 (penultimate show of the "Born In The U.S.A." tour).

This is one of the most famous folk songs in the United States. Based on an existing melody, a Baptist gospel hymn, Woody Guthrie wrote its lyrics in 1940, as a reaction to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", for considering it "unrealistic and complacent". His response was originally called "God Blessed America for Me".

Guthrie varied the lyrics over time, sometimes including more overtly political verses in line with his sympathetic views of communism. One of these versions was as follows:

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
I saw above me that endless skyway,
I saw below me the golden valley,
this land was made for you and me.

I roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
to the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
while all around me, a voice was sounding:
this land was made for you and me.

When the sun come shining, and I was strolling
and 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.

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

In the squares of the city, in the shadow of a steeple;
by the relief office I'd 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.

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.

In some versions of this song it's said "Private Property" instead of "No trespassing", both were in tune with Guthrie's communist ideas which, I think, were in contradiction with the lines "Nobody living can ever stop me, as I go walking that freedom highway". If he were living in Russia or China, for mentioned only two examples, probably he could not say that.

As an artistic creation, it can have different interpretations. Not being a Commie myself, I prefer to think that Guthrie refers to the people's right to move freely, not restricted either by physical or by ideological borders.