Talk:Woody Guthrie

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Woody Guthrie is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on January 10, 2009.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
October 13, 2006	Good article nominee	Not listed
April 9, 2007	Good article nominee	Not listed
June 13, 2007	Good article nominee	Listed
December 15, 2007	Peer review	Reviewed
February 1, 2008	Featured article candidate	Promoted
August 11, 2009	Featured article review	Demoted
Current status: Former featured article

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Singer-songwriter and musician[edit]

Isn't it redundant? Should be only "singer-songw" Cornerstonepicker (talk) 06:29, 14 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. Fixed. SilkTork ^{✔Tea time} 09:58, 20 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The top part of the article is broken[edit]

Pretty self explanatory — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:8803:802:E400:5973:8093:F680:2ED (talk) 03:07, 10 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Personal life[edit]

The personal life section of the article appears to be missing but is included in the table of contents — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mariojack3 (talk • contribs) 21:07, 25 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for raising this. I'm not a technowikipedian but it looks like a queer (yes, I'm using that in the old sense of the word) bug. I've done a workaround. Some technical genius might be able to fix it and retain the quote box, too. sirlanz 00:07, 26 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

American exceptionalism[edit]

To describe the song as a response to American Exceptionalism in "God Bless America" is an unfounded editorial opinion and not a provable fact. Recommend delete those words and substitute something more factual if desired. 75.42.35.133 (talk) 16:09, 15 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia depends on reliable sources, not all of which are "provable facts" but can be informed perspectives by established individuals and institutions. In the case of the sentence in question, The Kennedy Center addresses the point here [1] and History.com here [2]. Dozens of other sources also identify the radically left basis for the song.

In addition, Guthries's original lyric includes three verses that were left out of performances by late 1950s-early 1960s performers like the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary who helped revive the tune because the words were too specifically political:

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;

The sign was painted, it said private property;

But on the back side it didn’t say nothing;

That side was made for you and me.

Nobody living can ever stop me,

As I go walking that freedom highway;

Nobody living can ever make me turn back

This land was made for you and me.

And the original last verse:

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;

By the Relief Office, I'd seen my people.

As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,

Is this land made for you and me?

It's always valid to question the accuracy of text on Wikipedia, understanding that as above both facts and qualified perspectives can be reliable sources.Sensei48 (talk) 18:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

You're right. I went further than your suggestion and removed "God Bless America" from the lead paragraph, because that fact is much less important to the song "This Land Is Your Land", and much less important to Guthrie's biography. Binksternet (talk) 18:40, 15 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]