Woody Guthrie's family tells Josh Hawley 'This Land Is Your Land' not for use by 'insurrectionists'

David Edwards
March 13, 2023

American folk music singer Woody Guthrie (Al Aumuller/Library of Congress)

The family of the author of "This Land Is Your Land" has called on Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to stop using the song's lyrics.

The Kansas City Star reported Nora Guthrie, daughter of singer Woody Guthrie, wrote an email asking Hawley to stop using the song to promote his "This Land is Our Land Act," which would prevent U.S. farmland from being owned by anyone associated with the Chinese Communist Party.

Guthrie said politicians have long used "This Land Is Your Land" to promote their campaigns and the U.S.

"In this particular case, the co-opting or parodying of the lyric by those not aligned with Woody's lyrics – i.e. misrepresentation by autocrats, racists, white nationalists, anti-labor, insurrectionists, etc. – is not condoned," Guthrie wrote. "We do not consider Josh Hawley in any way a representative of Woody's values therefore we would never endorse or approve of his reference to Woody's lyrics."

"It is more of a vision of democracy," Guthrie said of the song. "The song simply reiterates the concept, 'By the people, for the people.'"

The paper pointed out that Guthrie has no legal avenue to prevent Hawley from using the lyrics.