Live 02 May 1981 version
[Spoken intro:] Thanks. This is uh... this is for Mike.
This is a song, it was written, it was written by, by Woody Guthrie. And... in the States, in the States now when uh... 'cause... when times get hard, there's always a resurgence in this time of groups assembling, just like the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialists in the States. (boos) And... they... there's people fighting against people that got the same common interests. And, this was a song that just says that the land of the living should belong to each and every one of you. And... this is a dream of lost time that's hard to find, but it's true. But this is a dream I think is ??? to us in order to work.
Well once I rode that ribbon highway
I saw above me the endless sky
I saw below me a golden valley
Oh this land was made for you and me
I roamed and I rambled and followed my footsteps
Through the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice is crying
It sighed this land was made for you and me
Well the sun came shining as I went strolling
Through the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
And the bells were ringing and the fog was lifting
Oh this land was made for you and me
Well from Harlem County to the streets of New York
From Liberty City to the streets of Brixton
You hear people wondering, people crying
If this land was made for you and me
Well this land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forests to the Gulf Stream waters
Oh this land was made for you and me
The above lyrics are for the live 02 May 1981 performance of THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND at Brondby-Hallen in Copenhagen, Denmark, during The River Tour. The song was played in a solo acoustic guitar and harmonica arrangement. This version is one of eight on this tour that feature Springsteen's own "Liberty City" verse. Here Springsteen adds a reference to the 1981 Brixton riot that took place the previous month.
List of available versions of THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND on this website:
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND [1988 studio version]