Songs to Fight the Plutocracy By: Woody Guthrie

If the only songs you had with which to fight the plutocracy were Woody Guthrie's songs, you would be well armed.

Peter Rothburg at The Nation, last July 14:

(Today), the legendary populist troubadour Woody Guthrie would have turned 100. Guthrie, best known for his iconic song “This Land Is Your Land,” has had as profound an influence as perhaps any musician in US, and perhaps world, history.

Born a hundred years ago on July 14, 1912, in Okemah, Oklahoma, Guthrie wrote hundreds of folk songs and countless ballads, as well as some beloved children’s music, and became a decisive influence on innumerable musicians, most famously Bob Dylan. The “People’s Bard” is rightly remembered as a transformative musician and song writer whose political activism and consistent advocacy for civil rights and economic equality, especially at the height of McCarthyism, inspired many others to stand tall and fight back. He scrawled “This Machine Kills Fascists” on his guitar, and he meant it.

This centennial occasion is being marked coast to coast with concerts, conferences and countless celebrations. Check out this national schedule of events and watch the videos below as a tribute to the man whose legacy includes some of the most powerful protest songs ever written.

Check out all 10. I've cited several of Woody's greatest in this series, but here's one I missed.