Woody Guthrie wrote thousands of songs in his lifetime—some are still being found today. Byt if you're just becoming acquainted with his work, here's a list of some of Woody Guthrie's most remarkable, influential, and memorable songs.
Smithsonian FolkwaysGuthrie's canon isn't just populated with topical songs and historical songs. There are also plenty of children's songs and songs about things like cars. In this popular tune, he paid tribute to the advent of the automobile, making engine and horn sounds.
This song is not just a catchy song about life on the road. It also talks about the history of migrant field workers who, during the Depression, would ride the train from job to job, falling on hard times along the way. |
lyricsWoody Guthrie wrote a lot of songs about what it was like to be a migrant worker during the depression. While this song retains that same theme, it focuses more on the empowerment of the worker and determination to not let anyone treat you with disrespect. |
lyrics This is one of Woody's best historical context story-songs. Here, he did one of the things he always did best in his songwriting: putting a human face on the headlines. |
lyricsMoving a bit away from the songs about the Depression and written for the working class, here's a song Woody Guthrie sang about a cheating woman. The woman in the song left her husband to run off with the gypsy singers. |
lyricsGuthrie wrote plenty of beautiful songs about unrequited love, and this one is a great example, written from the point of view of a woman who's been wronged by her man. |
lyricsThis is one of Guthrie's frequently covered songs about life on the road, riding the rails. |
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