Saturday, November 24, 2012

Richard Fedder: Take Back This Land for You and Me

(In memory of Woody Guthrie)
(New lyrics by Richard Fedder)

As I was hiking and they were drilling
And the sun was shining while the corn was wilting
I made a promise we’re all fulfilling
Take back this land for you and me!

Chorus 1:  
          This land is your land, this land is my land
          From the Shawnee Forest to the southern wetlands.
          From the Wabash River to the Mis-sis-si-ip-pi
          This land belongs to you and me.

In the depths they fracture the shale formations
And claim the bedrock of our proud nation
But up above them, they don’t own nothing
This (whole!) land belongs to you and me.

Chorus 2:   
          This land is your land, this land is my land
          From the Shawnee Forest to the northern tar sands
          From the Hudson Valley to the Texas prairie 
          This land belongs to you and me.

In the forest bottoms, a deer was drinking
As an uncapped well-head was slowly leaking
And the poisoned waters set me to thinking:
Wasn’t this land made for you and me?
  
Chorus 3:   
          Stop fracking on your land, stop fracking on my land
          From California to the New York Islands
          From the redwood forests to the Gulfstream waters
          Take back this land for you and me!
          Take back this land for you and me.

Posted with permission of Richard Fedder.