60 Woody Guthrie Quotes For Budding Young Folk Singers
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Woody Guthrie, was a prominent figure in the American folk music industry.
The musician Woody Guthrie's real name was Woodrow Wilson Guthrie. This American singer-songwriter was known for his folk ballads, traditional and children's songs, and incorporating political commentary in songs.
Woody Guthrie quotes are from some of his greatest works like 'This Land Is Your Land', 'I Aint Got No Home', and 'Hard Travelin'. Woody Guthrie guitar bears the message "This machine kills fascists". In the song 'Take It Easy But Take It', Woody Guthrie wants the world to fight against fascism and this song became a protest song.
So, if you are looking for Woody Guthrie 'all you fascists' quotes or Guthrie quotes, then keep on reading. You can also check out Bob Dylan Quotes and Funny Music Quotes articles.
Song Lyric Quotes
Here we have mentioned quotes derived from the songs by singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie. These Guthrie quotes are from songs that made history, like 'Land Was Made', 'All You Fascists Bound To Lose', among others. So, check out these lyrical Guthrie quotes from his folk music. You might even recognize some of these beautiful Woody Guthrie quotes.
1. “Take it easy, but take it.”
― Woody Guthrie.
2. “Everything's against the law, I'm a low-pay daddy singing the high-price blues.”
― Woody Guthrie.
3. "Are your garments all spotless?
Are they white as the snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?"
― Woody Guthrie.
4. "Oh, will you come when I call you?
I’ll come when you call me.
I’ll call you at half-past one!"
― Woody Guthrie.
5. “The little baby foxes, eight, nine, and ten / And the old mama fox did tell their dad,
"You'd better make a trip to the goose's pen so we don't starve to death-o.”
― Woody Guthrie.
6. "If I could only hear my mother sing again
If I could close my eyes and hear your voice as then"
― Woody Guthrie.
7. "While we're on the subject of hard work
I just wanted to say that I always was a man to work."
― Woody Guthrie.
8. "I’ve heard of your city called the Peace town
I’ve heard of your house and your street
I swear that I’ll walk till I get there."
- Woody Guthrie, 'Chain of Broken Hearts'.
9. "The sun comes shining as I was strolling, The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
The fog was lifting as a voice come chanting: This land was made for you and me."
― Woody Guthrie.
10. “Have you seen that vigilante man? Have you seen that vigilante man?
Have you seen that vigilante man? I been hearin' his name all over the land.”
― Woody Guthrie.
11. "The year is nineteen twenty-seven, the day is the third day of May;
The town is the city called Boston, our address this dark Dedham jail;
To your Honor, the Governor Fuller, to the Council of Massachusetts State,"
― Woody Guthrie.
12. "I better quit my talking now; I told you all I know, But please remember, pardoner, wherever you may go,
I'm older than your old folks, and I'm younger than the young, And I'm about the biggest thing that man has ever done."
― Woody Guthrie.
13. "The crops are all in and the peaches are rott'ning,
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps;
They're flying 'em back to the Mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again."
- Woody Guthrie, 'Deportee'.
Inspiring Woody Guthrie Quotes
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie, born July 14 1912 is one of the best political singers America ever saw. We have compiled some of the best and inspirational quotes said by the singer. So check out these Woody Guthrie quotes now.
14. "As I go walking this ribbon of highway I see above me the endless skyway And all around me the wind keeps saying: This land is made for you and me."
- Woody Guthrie.
15. “If you walk across my camera I will flash the world your story.”
― Woody Guthrie.
16. “The world is filled with people who are no longer needed -- and who try to make slaves of all of us -- and they have their music and we have ours.”
― Woody Guthrie.
17. “The note of hope is the only note that can help us or save us from falling to the bottom of the heap of evolution, because, largely, about all a human being is, anyway, is just a hoping machine.”
― Woody Guthrie.
18. “There's several ways of saying what's on your mind. And in states and counties where it ain't too healthy to talk too loud, speak your mind, or even vote like you want to, folks have found other ways of getting the word around. One of the mainest ways is by singing.”
― Woody Guthrie.
19. “All of my words, if not well put nor well taken, are well-meant.”
― Woody Guthrie.
20. “My eyes has been my camera taking pictures of the world and my songs has been my messages that I tried to scatter across the back sides and along the steps of the fire escapes and on the window sills and through the dark halls...”
- Woody Guthrie.
21. "All you can write is what you see."
- Woody Guthrie.
22. "This land is your land, this land is my land, From California to the New York Island. From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me."
- Woody Guthrie.
23. "I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound to lose.
No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are too old or too young or too fat or too slim or too ugly or too this or too that."
- Woody Guthrie.
24.
"And these pleasures that you cannot ever forget are the yeast that always starts working in your mind again, and it gets in your thoughts again, and in your eyes again, and then, all at once, no matter what has happened to you, you are building a brand new world again, based and built on the mistakes, the wreck, the hard luck and trouble of the old one."
- Woody Guthrie.
25. “I like to write about wherever I happen to be.”
- Woody Guthrie.
26. "The best way to get to know any bunch of people is to go and listen to their music."
- Woody Guthrie.
27. "This land is made for you and me.”
- Woody Guthrie.
Funny Woody Guthrie Quotes
The real name of Woody Guthrie is Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie. He is known for his outspoken views and a strong opinion. So, what are you waiting for? Check out these funny yet meaningful Woody Guthrie quotes from the musician and singer-songwriter.
28. "I ain't a Communist necessarily, but I been in the red all my life."
- Woody Guthrie.
29. "If you play more than two chords, you're showing off."
- Woody Guthrie.
30. “It's a folk singers job to comfort disturbed people and to disturb comfortable people.”
― Woody Guthrie.
31. "Left-wing, chicken wing, it doesn't make no difference to me."
- Woody Guthrie.
32. "Yes, as through this world I've wandered I've seen lots of funny men; Some will rob you with a six-gun, And some with a fountain pen."
- Woody Guthrie.
33. "Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple."
- Woody Guthrie.
34. "I got started in Oklahoma. That's where I was born. Population down there is one-third Indians, one-third Negroes, and one-third white people."
- Woody Guthrie.
35. "Life has got a habit of not standing hitched. You got to ride it as you find it. You got to change with it. If a day goes by that don't change some of your old notions for new ones, that is just about like trying to milk a dead cow."
- Woody Guthrie.
36. "Life's pretty tough... you're lucky if you live through it."
- Woody Guthrie.
37. “Let me be known as just the man that told you something you already knew.”
- Woody Guthrie.
38. "I never stopped to think of it before, but you know–a police–man will jest stand there an let a banker rob a farmer, or a finance man rob a workin man."
- Woody Guthrie.
39. “I’d give my life just to lay my head tonight on a bed of California stars”
- Woody Guthrie.
40. "I have decided long ago that my songs and ballads would not get the hugs and kisses of the capitalistic experts."
- Woody Guthrie.
41. "Pampa was a Texas boomtown and wilder than a woodchuck."
- Woody Guthrie.
Woody Guthrie Political Quotes
It is a well-known fact that Woody Guthrie sings about politics and fascism it is only logical that we share some of the iconic political Guthrie quotes from the musician and singer-songwriter.
42. "Well, it's always we ramble, that river and I, All along your green valley I'll work till I die, My land I'll defend with my life, if it is, 'Cause my pastures of plenty must always be free."
- Woody Guthrie.
43. "Plenty of rich folks wants to fight. Give them the guns."
- Woody Guthrie.
44. "I would like to see every single soldier on every single side, just take off your helmet, unbuckle your kit, lay down your rifle, and set down at the side of some shady lane, and say, nope, I ain't a-gonna kill nobody."
- Woody Guthrie.
45. "If we fix it so's you can't make money on war, we'll all forget what we're killing folks for."
- Woody Guthrie.
46.“Was a great high wall there that tried to stop me. Was a great big sign there said private Property but on the back side it didn't say nothing. That side was made for you and me.”
- Woody Guthrie.
47. “Nobody living can ever stop me. As I go walking my freedom highway. Nobody living can make me turn back. This land was made for you and me.”
- Woody Guthrie.
48. "I love a good man outside the law, just as much as I hate a bad man inside the law."
-Woody Guthrie
49. "I know the police cause you trouble They cause trouble everywhere But when you die and go to heaven You find no policeman there.”
- Woody Guthrie.
50. "If you want to learn something, just steal it.”
- Woody Guthrie.
51. "Life has a habit of not staying hitched. You got to ride it as you find it."
- Woody Guthrie.
52. "I am out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood."
- Woody Guthrie.
53. "One day we'll all find out that all of our songs were just little notes in a great big song!"
- Woody Guthrie.
54. "No matter how bad the wicked world has hurt you, in the long run, there is something gained, and it is all for the best."
- Woody Guthrie.
55. "All about a human being is, it's a great big hoping machine."
- Woody Guthrie.
56. "I worked in your orchards of peaches and prunes. I slept on the ground in the light of the moon. On the edge of the city, you'll see us, and then, we come with the dust and we go with the wind."
- Woody Guthrie.
57. "A song ain't nothing but a conversation fixed up to where you can talk it over and over without getting tired of it."
- Woody Guthrie.
58. “It's round the world I've traveled; it's round the world I've roamed, but I've yet to see an outlaw Drive a family from its home”
- Woody Guthrie.
59. "One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple, by the Relief Office, I saw my people -As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if God blessed America for me."
- Woody Guthrie.
60. "As the fog was lifting a voice come chanting: This land was made for you and me."
- Woody Guthrie.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Woody Guthrie quotes from the singer-songwriter then why not take a look at guitar quotes, or [quotes about singing].
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Bachelor of Arts specializing in French with Film Studies, Bachelor of Arts (Year Abroad) specializing in Literature, History, Language, Media, and Art
Georgia StoneBachelor of Arts specializing in French with Film Studies, Bachelor of Arts (Year Abroad) specializing in Literature, History, Language, Media, and Art
Georgia is an experienced Content Manager with a degree in French and Film Studies from King's College London and Bachelors degree from Université Paris-Sorbonne. Her passion for exploring the world and experiencing different cultures was sparked during her childhood in Switzerland and her year abroad in Paris. In her spare time, Georgia enjoys using London's excellent travel connections to explore further afield.
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