Heard a child, probably 5 years old singing "This Land." However, it wasn't the version we are all used to. I looked up the version, and saw discussions saying the parody has been around for years and sung, by kids in the hallways, in many schools. I even saw one post where Arlo suggested Woody actually wrote the parody.
The ideals of the original and the parody provide stark contrast.
This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land
Whether we agree or not, these lyrics make a statement that the land, America, belongs to all of us, and we all have a stake in the country. In contrast,
This land is my land, it isn't your land
Provides us with a statement that the land belongs to the haves, and others need not apply. It could be viewed as a broad statement on slamming the doors on immigration (with or without proper papers), we are here, now close the doors on all others. Woody's original lyrics are all enclusive, the parody sung by a five year old, clearly exclusionary.
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forests to the Gulf Stream Waters
This Land Was Made for Your and Me
The land is the whole country, it belongs to all of us. We all have a stake in its future. While definitely Woody had a socialist bent to him, the song was an inspiring one about how we all share a common fate.
I got a shotgun, and you don' got one
If you don't get off, I'll blow your head off
This land is private property
Might makes right, threat of violence. Quite the statement on its own, shocking when it comes from a 5 year old. Instead of This Land being a song about all of us being in this together, we get an anthem for private property and violence.
Beyond the context of the words being issued by a 5 year old, to which myself and several other adults listening shook our heads, one can think about many societal issues. From a planner's perspective, the Private Property Rights interests versus the Henry George thoughts that all private property value comes from government investments.
We actually see it everyday. One property owner strips or regrades their property and those down hill have to deal with the water that runs off the property. Their "private property rights" interfere with another's private property rights. The parody words for This Land and the whole private property movement it reflects flies in the face of the old cowboy adage Don't Fence Me In as reflected in the Cole Porter song of the same name which states, in part:
Oh, give me land, lots of land
Under starry skies above,
Don't fence me in.
Let me ride through the wild open
Country that I love,
Don't fence me in.
Let me be by myself in the evening breeze-
Listen to the murmer of the cottonwood trees,
Send me off forever, but I ask you please,
Don't fence me in.
Just turn me loose,
Let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western sky.
On my cayuse,
Let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise.
I want to ride to the ridge
Where the west commences,
Gaze at the moon till I lose my senses,
Can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences,
Don't fence me in.
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