Woody Wilson
Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma on July 14, 1912. He was son of a country,
successful politician and businessman parents. Some reports say that Woody was
a precocious and observant kid. His life was very painful, with several tragic
losses and collapses in the family. Lost his older sister, his mother and lived
severe financial problems. In his youth, he left his home just with some
clothes a guitar and harmonica to travel the US by train.
On one of his travels, he stopped in
California in 1937, where he began his career in traditional folk music, played
for several radios like West Coast. In the same moment, the world was
experiencing one of the most tragic and profound economic crisis, The Great
Depression (1929-39), where more than 14 million Americans were unemployed and
the country's banking system was going to bankrupt. Shortly after the end of
the 29’s crisis, began the Second World War, which boosted the country's
economy but caused several social problems in a country living in fear.
Guthrie wrote “This Land is Your
Land” in 1940 and this song showed the enormous love he felt for his country. The
lyric of the song represent the populist sentiment that the American nation was
feeling at that time. This music was the most famous of his discography (more
than 1,000 written music). But when he was 42 years old, the Huntington’s
disease affected him, the same disease that killed his mother. His nervous
system was injured, and he lost the ability to sing and play the guitar. In
1967 Guthrie died, but he can saw his music inspire a new generation and “This
Land is Your Land” became a music reference to the fight about Civil Rights movements.
