The author illustrates the connection between Guthrie's life and his music by explaining that
Read the excerpt from This Land Was Made for You and
Me.
Just after New Year's Day in 1940, Woody set off on one
of his unannounced road trips. He left his wife and three
kids in a shack in Texas and headed for New York City.
It was a long, cold trip in the dead of winter, and every
time he stopped in a diner he heard Irving Berlin's lush,
sentimental song, "God Bless America," on the jukebox,
It was exactly the kind of song Woody couldn't stand,
romanticizing America, telling people not to worry, that
God would take care of everything.
O Guthrie was not motivated to write music about his
family or Texas.
O the song "God Bless America" convinced Guthrie that
his family would be fine without him.
O the message Guthrie heard in "God Bless America"
contrasted with what he was going through.
O Guthrie did not worry about things and did not write
songs about the concept of worry.
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