Woody at 100 | NationofChange

Where's Woody when we need him?

In these times of tinkle-down economics — with the money powers thinking that they're the top dogs and that the rest of us are just a bunch of fire hydrants — we need for the hard-hitting (yet uplifting) musical stories, social commentaries and inspired lyrical populism of Woody Guthrie.

This year will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of this legendary grassroots troubadour, who came out of the Oklahoma dust bowl to rally America's "just plain folks" to fight back against the elites who were knocking them down.

As we know, the elites are back, strutting around cockier than ever with their knocking-down ways — but now comes the good news out of Tulsa, Okla., that Woody, too, is being revived, spiritually speaking. In a national collaboration between the Guthrie family and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, a center is being built in Tulsa to archive, present to the world and celebrate the marvelous songs, books, letters and other materials generated from Guthrie's deeply fertile mind.

To give the center a proper kick-start, four great universities, the Grammy Museum, the Smithsonian Institution and the Kaiser Foundation are teaming up to host a combination of symposiums and concerts (think of them as Woody-Paloozas) throughout this centennial year. They begin this Saturday, March 10 at the University of Tulsa, then they move on down the road to Brooklyn College and on to the University of Southern California and Penn State University.

If Woody himself were to reappear among us, rambling from town to town, he wouldn't need to write any new material. He'd see that the Wall Street banksters who crashed our economy are getting fat bonus checks, while the victims of their greed are still getting pink slips and eviction notices, and he could just pull out this verse from his old song, "Pretty Boy Floyd":

Yes, as through this world I've wandered,

I've seen lots of funny men.

Some will rob you with a six-gun,

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And some with a fountain pen.

And as through your life your travel,

Yes, as through your life your roam,

You won't never see an outlaw

Drive a family from their home.

Also, witnessing the downsizing of America's jobs, decimation of the middle class and stark rise in poverty, Guthrie could reprise his classic, "I Ain't Got No Home":

I mined in your mines, and I gathered in your corn.

I been working, mister, since the day I was born.

Now I worry all the time like I never did before,

'Cause I ain't got no home in this world anymore.

Now as I look around, it's mighty plain to see,

This world is such a great and a funny place to be.

Oh, the gamblin' man is rich, an' the workin' man is poor,

And I ain't got no home in this world anymore.

Guthrie unabashedly celebrated America's working class, seeing in it the commitment to the common good that lifts America up.

He drove The Powers That Be crazy (a pretty short ride for many of them back then, just as it is today). So they branded him a unionist, socialist, communist and all sorts of other "ists" — but he withered them with humor that got people laughing at them: "I ain't a communist necessarily, but I have been in the red all my life."

Going down those "ribbons of highway" that he extolled in "This Land Is Your Land," Guthrie found that the only real hope of fairness and justice was in the people themselves: "When you bum around for a year or two and look at all the folks that's down and out, busted, disgusted (but can still be trusted), you wish that somehow or other they could ... pitch in and build this country back up again." He concluded, "There is just one way to save yourself, and that's to get together and work and fight for everybody."

And, indeed, that's exactly what grassroots people are doing all across our country today. From Occupy Wall Street to the ongoing Wisconsin uprising, from battles against the Keystone XL Pipeline to the successful local and state campaigns to repeal the Supreme Court's atrocious Citizens United edict, people are adding their own verses to Woody's musical refrain: "I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way."

Where's Woody when we need him? He's right there, inside each of us.

Copyright Creators.com

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Woody at 100 | NationofChange

Published: Wednesday 7 March 2012

Woody Guthrie: “There is just one way to save yourself, and that’s to get together and work and fight for everybody.”

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Where's Woody when we need him?

In these times of tin­kle-down eco­nom­ics — with the money pow­ers think­ing that they're the top dogs and that the rest of us are just a bunch of fire hy­drants — we need for the hard-hit­ting (yet up­lift­ing) mu­si­cal sto­ries, so­cial com­men­taries and in­spired lyri­cal pop­ulism of Woody Guthrie.

This year will mark the 100th an­niver­sary of the birth of this leg­endary grass­roots trou­ba­dour, who came out of the Ok­la­homa dust bowl to rally Amer­ica's "just plain folks" to fight back against the elites who were knock­ing them down.

As we know, the elites are back, strut­ting around cock­ier than ever with their knock­ing-down ways — but now comes the good news out of Tulsa, Okla., that Woody, too, is being re­vived, spir­i­tu­ally speak­ing. In a na­tional col­lab­o­ra­tion be­tween the Guthrie fam­ily and the George Kaiser Fam­ily Foun­da­tion, a cen­ter is being built in Tulsa to archive, pre­sent to the world and cel­e­brate the mar­velous songs, books, let­ters and other ma­te­ri­als gen­er­ated from Guthrie's deeply fer­tile mind.

To give the cen­ter a proper kick-start, four great uni­ver­si­ties, the Grammy Mu­seum, the Smith­son­ian In­sti­tu­tion and the Kaiser Foun­da­tion are team­ing up to host a com­bi­na­tion of sym­po­siums and con­certs (think of them as Woody-Paloozas) through­out this cen­ten­nial year. They begin this Sat­ur­day, March 10 at the Uni­ver­sity of Tulsa, then they move on down the road to Brook­lyn Col­lege and on to the Uni­ver­sity of South­ern Cal­i­for­nia and Penn State Uni­ver­sity.

If Woody him­self were to reap­pear among us, ram­bling from town to town, he wouldn't need to write any new ma­te­r­ial. He'd see that the Wall Street banksters who crashed our econ­omy are get­ting fat bonus checks, while the vic­tims of their greed are still get­ting pink slips and evic­tion no­tices, and he could just pull out this verse from his old song, "Pretty Boy Floyd":

Yes, as through this world I've wan­dered,

I've seen lots of funny men.

Some will rob you with a six-gun,

Na­tionofChange is a 501(c)3 non­profit funded di­rectly by our read­ers. Please make a small do­na­tion to sup­port our work.

And some with a foun­tain pen.

And as through your life your travel,

Yes, as through your life your roam,

You won't never see an out­law

Drive a fam­ily from their home.

Also, wit­ness­ing the down­siz­ing of Amer­ica's jobs, dec­i­ma­tion of the mid­dle class and stark rise in poverty, Guthrie could reprise his clas­sic, "I Ain't Got No Home":

I mined in your mines, and I gath­ered in your corn.

I been work­ing, mis­ter, since the day I was born.

Now I worry all the time like I never did be­fore,

'Cause I ain't got no home in this world any­more.

Now as I look around, it's mighty plain to see,

This world is such a great and a funny place to be.

Oh, the gam­blin' man is rich, an' the workin' man is poor,

And I ain't got no home in this world any­more.

Guthrie un­abashedly cel­e­brated Amer­ica's work­ing class, see­ing in it the com­mit­ment to the com­mon good that lifts Amer­ica up.

He drove The Pow­ers That Be crazy (a pretty short ride for many of them back then, just as it is today). So they branded him a union­ist, so­cial­ist, com­mu­nist and all sorts of other "ists" — but he with­ered them with humor that got peo­ple laugh­ing at them: "I ain't a com­mu­nist nec­es­sar­ily, but I have been in the red all my life."

Going down those "rib­bons of high­way" that he ex­tolled in "This Land Is Your Land," Guthrie found that the only real hope of fair­ness and jus­tice was in the peo­ple them­selves: "When you bum around for a year or two and look at all the folks that's down and out, busted, dis­gusted (but can still be trusted), you wish that some­how or other they could ... pitch in and build this coun­try back up again." He con­cluded, "There is just one way to save your­self, and that's to get to­gether and work and fight for every­body."

And, in­deed, that's ex­actly what grass­roots peo­ple are doing all across our coun­try today. From Oc­cupy Wall Street to the on­go­ing Wis­con­sin up­ris­ing, from bat­tles against the Key­stone XL Pipeline to the suc­cess­ful local and state cam­paigns to re­peal the Supreme Court's atro­cious Cit­i­zens United edict, peo­ple are adding their own verses to Woody's mu­si­cal re­frain: "I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way."

Where's Woody when we need him? He's right there, in­side each of us.

Copy­right Creators.​com

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ABOUT JIM HIGHTOWER

National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book, Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow, Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.

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