The sign was painted. It said "Private Property." But on the back side, it didn't say nothing. This land was made for you and me. Credit: E.S.

Born July 14, 1912. Died October 3, 1967. I thought of him—and the “secret” verse to this song—when I came across this scene the other day:

  • E.S.
  • “The sign was painted. It said, ‘Private Property.’ But on the back side, it didn’t say nothing.”

Eli Sanders was The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won...

9 replies on “Happy Birthday, Woody Guthrie”

  2. A true patriot always questions their government, never accepts at face value the word of the government, and always works for the betterment of the government, of the people and by the people. And yes, that machine did kill Fascists.

    Happy Birthday Woody!

  3. There’s another “secret” verse as well:

    One bright mornin’ in the shadow of the steeple,
    By the relief office, I seen all my people.
    As they stood there hungry, I stood there wonderin’
    If this land was made for you and me..

  4. Here’s a favorite old piece by Eric Scigliano about the time Woody and Pete Seeger got invited to Seattle in 1941, crashed with Ivar Haglund and his wife, first heard the term “hootenanny” headlining for Terry Pettus at the Polish Hall over at 18th and Madison, and cut a couple of records here.

    [Ivar] and Seeger shared one song that each later told me he taught the other: “The Old Settler,” better known by its refrain—“acres of clams.” Both cherished the ditty: Haglund later named his flagship restaurant after it, and Seeger burst out singing it over the phone when he told the tale. But Haglund surely knew it first; “The Old Settler” is a classic from Puget Sound pioneer days.

    Woody and Pete thanked Ivar by cutting a disc on his home recording machine: “Jackhammer John” and “Columbia Talking Blues.” They also cut a disc for Terry Pettus, the editor of the Commonwealth Federation’s newspaper, who took them under his wing and got them gigs: “Overalls and Snuff,” a sardonic local hop-picker’s lament. By the time Terry played it for me, he’d played it to near unintelligibility.

    http://www.seattlemet.com/arts-and-enter…

  7. Didn’t know that was a secret verse – we always sang that one when I was a kid (thanks to my folky folks, we thought Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger were pop music of the time.)

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