"This Land Is Your Land"
"I'll Take Your Home Again, Kathleen" 是丈夫的承諾, 以回應妻子思鄉的一曲 "Barney, Take Me Home Again" 同於1875年面世, 之後催生了二十世紀初在美國流行樂壇的 "Response Song", 繼而有多首這類歌曲陸續面世, 最為樂迷認識是 Woody Guthrie 1944年面世的作品 "This Land Is Your Land", 據傳此曲的旋律是改編自一首古老的福音歌曲 "O My Loving Brother"。
"O My Loving Brother"
"This Land Is Your Land" - Response Song
Woody Guthrie 1940年完成的作品 "God Bless America For Me", 以此曲作批判性回應 Irving Berlin 1918年的歌曲作品 "God Bless America"。Guthrie 在準備發表這歌曲前, 把當中批評美國政府關於私有財產, 與及飢餓的两段歌詞删掉, 之後卻不知何故將歌曲擱置下來。
二戰展開, 1941年納粹德國入侵蘇聯; 至1944年美國開始介入歐洲戰場, 而 Guthrie 亦支持這次戰事; 在反民族主義下, 他再把完成多年的每段歌詞最後一句 "God bless America for me" 改為 "This land was made for you and me", 歌曲名字以 "This Land Is Your Land" 面世。
二戰結束之後, 這篇普世作品 "This Land Is Your Land" 與標榜民族地域的 "God Bless America" 同被公認為愛國歌曲, 在各類大型集會, 由場内外和電視觀眾齊聲高吭, 更為振奮民心。
"God Bless America" - American Patriotic Song
Chorus
God bless America
Land that we love
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above
From the mountains, to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America
My home, sweet home
God bless America
My home, sweet home
Verse
While the storm clouds gather far across the sea
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer
Chorus
God bless America
Land that we love
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above
From the mountains, to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America
My home, sweet home
God bless America
My home, sweet home
"This Land Is Your Land"
"This Land Is Your Land" Woody Guthrie - 1940
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 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.
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.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I've 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.
這型式的歌曲作品, 後來在美國流行樂壇並沒有被正式歸類為 "Response Song", 衹不過創作靈感多數是被另一曲啟發, 內容的大前題是針對性, 揶揄、戲謔、駁斥或任何目的來回應對方而已, 由於曲調和旋律各異, 回應所及的歌詞内容, 並不是每個樂迷能領略和理解, 與個別作品並沒有分別, 亦是這類別歌曲不成潮流的原因。踏入五十年代, 這類歌曲的蝴蝶效應, 在美國流行樂壇誕生另一系列的歌曲 "Answer Song", 顧名思義是回答對方的歌曲, 並且直截了當取用原曲的旋律, 令樂迷可知曉一問一答的內容, 成為流行歌曲另一股熱潮....
"Answer Song"
在流行樂壇經歴了幾個年代之後, 至今在網上的音樂平台, 能搜羅到有記錄的原曲作品有幾百首, 回答對方而稱為 "Answer Song" 的版本多達一千七百首, 但當中有不少已偏離原曲的旋律和節奏, 曲目名字和内容亦不對題, 至今衹有幾十首成為 "Answer Song" 的經典之外, 這系列的其他歌曲再不被樂迷關注。