May 20, 2025 • 11 mins
Colin Lowther and Alice Irizarry share about the life and music of Woodie Guthrie, an American folk singer who influenced many singers and shaped American folk music.
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https://spotlightenglish.com/uncategorized/this-land-is-your-land-the-woody-guthrie-story/
Download our app for Android at http://bit.ly/spotlight-android
Download our app for iOS at http://bit.ly/spotlight-apple
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spotlightradio
Are you learning English? Are you looking for a way to practice your English? Listen to Spotlight to learn about people and places all around the world. You can learn English words, and even practice English by writing a comment.
Visit our website to follow along with the script: http://spotlightenglish.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Collin Lowva.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And I'm Alice Irasari. Spotlight uses a special English method
of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I hate a song that makes you think that you're
not any good. I hate a song that makes you
think that you are just born to lose. No good
to nobody, no good for nothing because you are either
too old or too young, or too fat or too thin,
or too bad looking, or to this or to that.
(00:51):
Songs that make fun of you on account of your
bad luck or hard travels. I will fight those kind
of songs to my very last breath. I will fight
them to a last drop of blood.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Woody Guthrie was a songwriter from the United States. He
spoke these words on a radio program in nineteen forty five.
Guthrie's method for making music was special. He wrote about
what he experienced in his life. The words in his
(01:24):
songs were like the dust of the road, but the
simple words and sounds displayed a truth that Woody Guthrie
was as real as they came. This kind of simple
honesty made Guthrie's songs special. It changed American folk music forever.
(01:47):
Today's spotlight is on Woody Guthrie.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Woody Guthrie was born into dust. In the nineteen thirties,
the world faced the Great Depression. This terrible economic downturn
hit the United States. Hard rich men threw themselves from
buildings because they were depressed. Over All, they had lost.
But the situation was worse in the Great Plains. Years
(02:17):
of too much farming had left the ground too worn
out to grow good crops. Three years of little rain
left thousands of kilometers of empty land. Huge windstorms blew
through these empty fields. These were the perfect elements for
human tragedy. They were the elements for the dust bowl.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
The dust bowl transformed the Great Plains. Parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Nevada,
New Mexico, and Colorado became unlivable. The winds carried thousands
of kilograms of soil, blowing great clouds of black dust
into the air. These storms, called black blizzards, could bury
(03:04):
people in their homes. Even breathing the air was dangerous.
Avis D. Carlson was a writer for the New Republic newspaper.
He compared these storms to bad dreams.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
The bad dream is deepest during the storms, But on
the few bright days and the usual gray day, we
cannot forget it. We live with the dust, eat it,
sleep with it. We watch it take our things and
our hope of things. It is becoming real. The hope
(03:41):
of spring turns into a story of the past. The
bad dream is becoming life.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Like thousands of others from Oklahoma, the dust bowl pushed
Guthrie from his home. With little money and little hope,
he wandered the United States. He left his children and
wife behind. He earned his meals by playing music and
painting signs. Sometimes he found work on farms, but most
(04:17):
nights when he went to bed, his stomach was empty.
All he had were the people he traveled with and
his guitar, his favorite instrument.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Guthrie's travels made him distrustful of people with wealth. By
the time he reached California, he was already writing songs
that praised working people, such as his song about the
farmer labor Train. His experiences in California made this feeling stronger.
(04:52):
There he joined thousands of other people fleeing from the
dust bowl called Oaky's. The same Oaks came because so
many of them had left their farms in Oklahoma. The
Oakes thought that they would find jobs in California, but
people there did not have much work either. Many Californians
(05:18):
distrusted these new travelers. They did not give the Oakey's jobs.
The Oakes were made to feel less than human.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Guthrie's most famous songs speak to these experiences. This Land
Is Your Land is his best known song. Most of
the song describes the beauty of the United States of America.
The sands of Guthrie's America shine brightly, its forests stand
tall and mighty. But after each part or verse of
(05:52):
his song, Guthrie returns to the same idea that the
United States belongs to all of its people. He sang, this.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Land is your land, and 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.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
You and me. Even though Guthrie had difficult experiences, he
loved his country. He enjoyed its beauty, but he also
saw where it was not perfect and where it could improve.
He criticized and protested through songs and humor. But every
(06:43):
song he wrote, every sound he played, came from a
deep love of the place he called home.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Guthrie's songs soon made him famous among the Oakies, and
he met people interested in recording his songs. He ran
a radio program in California for several years. He played
many of his new songs on the program.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Guthrie's words often got him in trouble. Guthrie was not
a communist, supporting that kind of government system, but his
songs expressed sympathy for the commonist, someone fighting for the
common ordinary people and seeking to help with their problems.
(07:30):
These ideas were common among workers during the dust Bowl,
but as time passed, people in the United States became
suspicious of Guthrie's political views. Guthrie lost his job at
the radio station in nineteen thirty nine. He continued writing
(07:52):
and singing, but it became more difficult to find people
to listen to his music.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Guthrie also seemed to be unable to stay in place
for long. He had grown up traveling the road was
part of him. He spent years moving from one side
of the country to another. One year he was writing
songs in the Pacific Northwest. Another year he was in
New York City playing with a group called the Almanac singers.
(08:24):
He was married and divorced several times.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Guthrie grew successful even though he moved so much, but
he did not have the same kind of success as
modern recording artists would have. He traveled instead of collecting wealth.
Experiences seemed more important to him than building a life
(08:50):
in one place. He did not plan for old age.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Old age came to Woody Guthrie sooner than most. He
was born with Huntington's disease. This disorder of the brain
attacked his memory and intelligence. He grew difficult to live
with and difficult to care for. By nineteen sixty five,
the disease had robbed him of his speech. He died
two years later, unable to write or sing a word.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
But others like Guthrie would soon take up his voice.
Bob Dylan is a famous musician. Dylan won the twenty
sixteen Nobel Prize in Literature with the words he wrote
for his songs, But when he was younger, Woody Guthrie
was his favorite artist. Musicians like Johnny Cash, Bob Seger,
(09:52):
and Bruce Springsteen all credit Guthrie among their early musical influences.
His style of honest speaking continues to shape American folk
music today.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Woody Guthrie was an important folk artist. What does folk
music mean to you? What does it sound like for you?
Who are the folk singers in your community? You can
leave a comment on our website at www dot Spotlight
English dot com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok,
(10:38):
and x. You can also get our programs delivered directly
to your Android or Apple device through our free official
Spotlight English app.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
The writer of this program was Dan Christman. The producer
was Michyo Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the
United Kingdom and the u United States. All quotes were
adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program
(11:09):
is called This Land Is Your Land, The Woody Guthrie Story.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We hope you can join us again for the next
Spotlight program. Goodbye,
Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Collin Lowva.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And I'm Alice Irasari. Spotlight uses a special English method
of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I hate a song that makes you think that you're
not any good. I hate a song that makes you
think that you are just born to lose. No good
to nobody, no good for nothing because you are either
too old or too young, or too fat or too thin,
or too bad looking, or to this or to that.
(00:51):
Songs that make fun of you on account of your
bad luck or hard travels. I will fight those kind
of songs to my very last breath. I will fight
them to a last drop of blood.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Woody Guthrie was a songwriter from the United States. He
spoke these words on a radio program in nineteen forty five.
Guthrie's method for making music was special. He wrote about
what he experienced in his life. The words in his
(01:24):
songs were like the dust of the road, but the
simple words and sounds displayed a truth that Woody Guthrie
was as real as they came. This kind of simple
honesty made Guthrie's songs special. It changed American folk music forever.
(01:47):
Today's spotlight is on Woody Guthrie.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Woody Guthrie was born into dust. In the nineteen thirties,
the world faced the Great Depression. This terrible economic downturn
hit the United States. Hard rich men threw themselves from
buildings because they were depressed. Over All, they had lost.
But the situation was worse in the Great Plains. Years
(02:17):
of too much farming had left the ground too worn
out to grow good crops. Three years of little rain
left thousands of kilometers of empty land. Huge windstorms blew
through these empty fields. These were the perfect elements for
human tragedy. They were the elements for the dust bowl.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
The dust bowl transformed the Great Plains. Parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Nevada,
New Mexico, and Colorado became unlivable. The winds carried thousands
of kilograms of soil, blowing great clouds of black dust
into the air. These storms, called black blizzards, could bury
(03:04):
people in their homes. Even breathing the air was dangerous.
Avis D. Carlson was a writer for the New Republic newspaper.
He compared these storms to bad dreams.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
The bad dream is deepest during the storms, But on
the few bright days and the usual gray day, we
cannot forget it. We live with the dust, eat it,
sleep with it. We watch it take our things and
our hope of things. It is becoming real. The hope
(03:41):
of spring turns into a story of the past. The
bad dream is becoming life.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Like thousands of others from Oklahoma, the dust bowl pushed
Guthrie from his home. With little money and little hope,
he wandered the United States. He left his children and
wife behind. He earned his meals by playing music and
painting signs. Sometimes he found work on farms, but most
(04:17):
nights when he went to bed, his stomach was empty.
All he had were the people he traveled with and
his guitar, his favorite instrument.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Guthrie's travels made him distrustful of people with wealth. By
the time he reached California, he was already writing songs
that praised working people, such as his song about the
farmer labor Train. His experiences in California made this feeling stronger.
(04:52):
There he joined thousands of other people fleeing from the
dust bowl called Oaky's. The same Oaks came because so
many of them had left their farms in Oklahoma. The
Oakes thought that they would find jobs in California, but
people there did not have much work either. Many Californians
(05:18):
distrusted these new travelers. They did not give the Oakey's jobs.
The Oakes were made to feel less than human.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Guthrie's most famous songs speak to these experiences. This Land
Is Your Land is his best known song. Most of
the song describes the beauty of the United States of America.
The sands of Guthrie's America shine brightly, its forests stand
tall and mighty. But after each part or verse of
(05:52):
his song, Guthrie returns to the same idea that the
United States belongs to all of its people. He sang, this.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Land is your land, and 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.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
You and me. Even though Guthrie had difficult experiences, he
loved his country. He enjoyed its beauty, but he also
saw where it was not perfect and where it could improve.
He criticized and protested through songs and humor. But every
(06:43):
song he wrote, every sound he played, came from a
deep love of the place he called home.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Guthrie's songs soon made him famous among the Oakies, and
he met people interested in recording his songs. He ran
a radio program in California for several years. He played
many of his new songs on the program.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Guthrie's words often got him in trouble. Guthrie was not
a communist, supporting that kind of government system, but his
songs expressed sympathy for the commonist, someone fighting for the
common ordinary people and seeking to help with their problems.
(07:30):
These ideas were common among workers during the dust Bowl,
but as time passed, people in the United States became
suspicious of Guthrie's political views. Guthrie lost his job at
the radio station in nineteen thirty nine. He continued writing
(07:52):
and singing, but it became more difficult to find people
to listen to his music.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Guthrie also seemed to be unable to stay in place
for long. He had grown up traveling the road was
part of him. He spent years moving from one side
of the country to another. One year he was writing
songs in the Pacific Northwest. Another year he was in
New York City playing with a group called the Almanac singers.
(08:24):
He was married and divorced several times.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Guthrie grew successful even though he moved so much, but
he did not have the same kind of success as
modern recording artists would have. He traveled instead of collecting wealth.
Experiences seemed more important to him than building a life
(08:50):
in one place. He did not plan for old age.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Old age came to Woody Guthrie sooner than most. He
was born with Huntington's disease. This disorder of the brain
attacked his memory and intelligence. He grew difficult to live
with and difficult to care for. By nineteen sixty five,
the disease had robbed him of his speech. He died
two years later, unable to write or sing a word.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
But others like Guthrie would soon take up his voice.
Bob Dylan is a famous musician. Dylan won the twenty
sixteen Nobel Prize in Literature with the words he wrote
for his songs, But when he was younger, Woody Guthrie
was his favorite artist. Musicians like Johnny Cash, Bob Seger,
(09:52):
and Bruce Springsteen all credit Guthrie among their early musical influences.
His style of honest speaking continues to shape American folk
music today.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Woody Guthrie was an important folk artist. What does folk
music mean to you? What does it sound like for you?
Who are the folk singers in your community? You can
leave a comment on our website at www dot Spotlight
English dot com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok,
(10:38):
and x. You can also get our programs delivered directly
to your Android or Apple device through our free official
Spotlight English app.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
The writer of this program was Dan Christman. The producer
was Michyo Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the
United Kingdom and the u United States. All quotes were
adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program
(11:09):
is called This Land Is Your Land, The Woody Guthrie Story.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We hope you can join us again for the next
Spotlight program. Goodbye,
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