This Land Is Your Land
This Land Is Your Land est l'une des plus célèbres chansons folkloriques des États-Unis. Les paroles ont été écrites par Woody Guthrie en 1940 sur une musique existante, et ce en réponse à God Bless America d'Irving Berlin qu'il considérait comme peu réaliste et suffisante. Lassé d'entendre Kate Smith chanter cette chanson, il a écrit sous forme de réponse, God Blessed America for Me[1], dont il changea les paroles au cours des interprétations, ajoutant parfois des vers plus politiques.
W. Guthrie a tiré la mélodie de This Land Is Your Land essentiellement de When the World's on Fire, un chant baptiste enregistré par la Carter Family dix ans auparavant. Cependant, certaines sources indiquent qu'une chanson originale de la Carter Family, Little Darlin' Pal of Mine, est la source de la mélodie de This Land[2].
En 1995, This Land Is Your Land est entrée dans la liste des « 500 chansons qui ont façonné le rock and roll » (500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll) du Rock and Roll Hall of Fame[3].
Paroles originales (1944)
[modifier | modifier le code]- 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 that golden valley
- This land was made for you and me.
- I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps
- To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
- While All around me a voice was sounding
- Saying this land was made for you and me.
- The sun came 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.
- 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.
Reprise
[modifier | modifier le code]En 2002, Sharon Jones et les Dap-Kings ont repris cette chanson. Les troisième et quatrième couplets sont inspirés de ceux chantés par Woody Guthrie dans le plus ancien enregistrement connu, datant de [4]. Les troisième et quatrième couplets de la reprise sont :
- As I was walking, now, they tried to stop me[5]
- They put up a sign that said, oh, it said: Private Property
- Well, on the back side, you know it said nothing
- So, it must be that side was made for you and me
- One bright sunny morning, well, in the shadow of a steeple
- Down by the Welfare office, I saw my people
- You know, now, they stood hungry, I stood wondering
- I was wondering if this land was made for you and me
- This land is your land, this land is my land
- From Riverside, California, oh, to Staten Island
- Well, oh, down to Modesto, Georgia, oh, don't forget to say Philadelphia, oh
- We moving down to Mississippi, oh, Houston, Texas, ah LA
- Yeah, you know, ah, this land is your land, this land is my land
- This land is your land
- You've got to believe, this my land
- Ooh, this land was made for you and me
En 2012, Neil Young et les Crazy Horse reprennent la chanson dans l'album Americana avec les paroles originales.
Notes et références
[modifier | modifier le code]- Woody Guthrie: this man is your myth, this man is my myth
- (en) Ed Cray, Ramblin Man : The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie, New York, W. W. Norton & Company, , poche (ISBN 978-0-393-32736-6), p. 165
- « 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll », sur Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, (version du sur Internet Archive)
- This land is your land
- « Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings:This Land Is Your Land » (consulté le )
Voir aussi
[modifier | modifier le code]Liens externes
[modifier | modifier le code]- Woody Guthrie au Museum of Musical Instruments
- Version 1972
- Paroles déposées en 1956
Bibliographie
[modifier | modifier le code]- Ramblin Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie. W. W. Norton & Company, 165. (ISBN 0393327361).