Live 29 Sep 1996 version
| The song: | "'Til We Outnumber 'Em" story: |
| As I went walking that ribbon of highway | |
| I saw above me, everybody!, that endless skyway | |
| I saw below me a golden valley | |
| This land was made for you and me | |
| Help me out, Jim! | |
| This land is your land, this land is my land | |
| From California to the New York island | So here's these two rabbits, mama rabbit and papa rabbit, out in the woods one day, |
| From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters | munching on things like rabbits like to do |
| This land was made for you and me | and, uh, the wind kicked up a little bit. |
| I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps | And on the wind come the sound of dogs off in the distance. |
| Through the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts | The wind was swirling around, so the rabbits could tell where the dogs, sound of the dogs was coming from |
| And all around me a voice was sounding | and they, uh just went back to munching on things, but now they was nervous, now they was paying attention. |
| This land was made for you and me | After a while the wind died down, and the rabbits could tell that the sound of the dogs was coming |
| This land is your land, this land is my land | clearly through those trees up on the hill or something, and so they stood up, and they looked, |
| From California to the New York island | and there through the trees on the hill was this bunch of dogs jumping up and down or something, |
| From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters | and by some consummate coincidence as the two rabbits jumped up looking at the two dogs, the dogs jumped up and saw the two rabbits down below! |
| This land was made for you and me | And the dogs got happy. |
| The sun came shining and I was strolling | And their faces start smiling, their feet started running, their tails is going, their eyes is smiling happy, |
| Through wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling | barking, yelping, yelling, happy, running dogs. |
| And a fog was lifting as a voice was sounding | And when the rabbits saw the dogs coming, they called to it, and they ran this way and that way around the trees and over the rocks and through the shrubs |
| Saying this land was made for you and me | But no matter where they went and how quick they was, the dogs kept getting closer and closer |
| This land is your land, this land is my land | Until finally the dogs was just about on top of them, and the rabbits started getting tired. |
| From California to the New York island | And just as the dogs was on 'em, the rabbits ducked into the hollow of a log, |
| From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters | and in the next instant the dogs was all over the log, and they was making a big racket because they couldn't get in. |
| This land was made for you and me | And deep in the hollow of the log, |
| One more time! | above all of the noise outside, |
| This land is your land, this land is my land | The mama rabbit looked at the papa rabbit, she said, |
| From California to the New York Island | "You know, pop, I don't believe we're gonna get out of this alive." |
| From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters | And the papa rabbit just smiled, he said, "well, that's all right. |
| This land was made for you and me | We'll just stay here 'til we outnumber 'em." |
The above lyrics are for the live 29 Sep 1996 performance of THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND at Severance Hall in Cleveland, OH, during a Woody Guthrie tribute concert. The song was played with the concert's all-cast, led by Arlo Guthrie. This live 29 Sep 1996 version of THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND was officially released in 2000 on the various artists album 'Til We Outnumber 'Em. On the album, Arlo Guthrie tells a story, "'Til We Outnumber 'Em", which is overdubbed onto the live recording of the THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND. The track is titled "'Til We Outnumber 'Em (This Land is Your Land)".
In September 1996 Cleveland's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Museum and Case Western Reserve University cohosted "Hard Travelin': The Life And Legacy Of Woody Guthrie", a 10-day conference of panel sessions, lectures, and concerts to remember, honor, and celebrate the songs of Woody Guthrie. The conference became the first in what would become the museum's annual American Music Masters Series conference.
The conference concluded on 29 Sep 1996 with an all-star tribute concert at Severance Hall in Cleveland, OH. Billed "Hard Travelin': A Benefit Concert", the Sunday night concert was a collaboration between the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Museum and the Woody Guthrie Archives. It was hosted by Tim Robbins and featured several performers who came to pay tribute to Woody Guthrie, including Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Billy Bragg, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco, and David Priner.
The first six songs feature Springsteen solo or in the lead role while the last four songs feature Springsteen in a support/background role.
In 2000, Ani DiFranco's record label, Righteous Babe, released a selection of 11 songs from the Severance Hall concert, along with snippets of spoken words by and about Guthrie from the conference, on the various artists Woody Guthrie tribute album 'Til We Outnumber 'Em. DiFranco produced and mixed the album, with proceeds going to benefit the Woodiy Guthrie Archives. Bruce Springsteen appears on four songs on the album: HARD TRAVELIN' HOOTENANNY, RIDING IN MY CAR, PLANE WRECK AT LOS GATOS (DEPORTEE), and THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND.
Nora Guthrie, the curator of her father's archives, told Backstreets magazine, "I had been trying to get a couple of record labels to record the concert, because I had a feeling it was going to be something really special. And everyone was rejecting me, telling me I didn't have a show." According to her, the assistance of Springsteen and his entire sound and lighting crew, as well as the persistence, tenacity and funding of Ani DiFranco and her manager Scott Fisher, made it possible. "We were taping the show, thanks to Bruce," Guthrie explained, "who had given us all of his sound equipment and technicians to use. He brought his whole crew, and they did the lighting, the sound. They did everything. It would have cost us a lot of money. I can't tell you how much money he saved us. He basically produced the show. And a light bulb went off, and I realized that this was going to be such an incredible night, and we owned the tapes. As soon as the concert was over I ran to Ani and from that moment, we knew this was going to be a CD."
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND on this website:
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND [1988 studio version]