Woody Guthrie - Ambrit International School

Woody Guthrie
by Roberto 8T
Have you ever heard of a man who wore dark blue Jeans, who walked from
California to Mississipi, from Ohio to New York City that changed the lives of
millions of Americans? I hadn’t heard of him till a couple of months ago. His
name has Woodrow Wilson, better known as Woody Guthrie, a famous folk
singer and extraordinary musician. His music was more than ordinary songs, its
meaning was so deep that it would involve us in the songs, making us reflect on
the values of life and society. Have you ever thought it was possible to change
the world with one object? I have the answer. Woody Guthrie did - more
precisely with a guitar. In periods of great difficulty for the U.S.A. when
economy was falling, millions of people lost their jobs and the nation was
devastated by supernatural events (the Dust Storm), Guthrie told everything
he wanted to humanity with great passion. Let’s think about the dust storm.
During the dust storm millions of people were never to see each other again,
they lost all of their belongings, their families and feared it was the end of
their days - the Apocalypse. In moments of great difficulty, humanity couldn’t
find the right way to defeat the series of negative events, which had struck
their nation. But again, fortunately, there was Woody Guthrie … his humor, his
personality and his courage were the best weapons to defeat the force of the
dust storm. The power of nature cannot be controlled by anything humanity
can imagine, except for feelings and imagination. I was impressed that in some
of his songs like the Dust Bowl Ballads, he accepts the dramatic events of the
dust storm in an almost happy way. I had imagined very sad songs. At this point
what can I say? Was Woody Guthrie a delinquent, a man without a home or a
philosopher? Well, the best answer is certainly not in the options above.
Guthrie was simply a HERO.
Let’s begin our exploration of the folk hero of the 20th century. I heard
about Guthrie the first time about a few months ago at school. When I heard
his songs I was delighted, I really enjoyed them. I had always wished to learn
about the life of this great American hero. I think the best way to
successfully learn the details of his life is to create a sort of identity card of
this character. Things like, date of birth, early life childhood are all very
interesting details which could take a life-time to learn. Let’s start with
investigating some of the basic facts of Woody Guthrie’s life. Where and when
was Guthrie born? Woody Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma on July 14th
1912. Oklahoma, is a state of the Southern United States which suffered
particularly in The Great depression. Did Guthrie belong to a rich or poor
family? Woody Guthrie belonged to a middle class family. He was the son of
Nora Belle and Edward Charles Guthrie. What events characterized Woody
Guthrie’s childhood? Guthrie’s childhood was characterized by a series of
dramatic events. The Guthrie family was tragically struck by fires over the
course of several years. His sister Clara died in a coal-oil fire when Guthrie
was seven, and Guthrie's father was severely burned in a subsequent coal-oil
fire. The circumstances of these fires, especially those in which Charley was
injured,
remain
unclear.
It
is
unknown
Whether they were simple accidents or the result of actions by Guthrie's
mother who, unknown to the Guthries at the time, was suffering from
Huntington's disease. Woody’s mother died in 1930 of Huntington’s disease and
soon her husband, Woody’s father, Charles, died as well. How did Woody
Guthrie react to these events? It was in these years that Woody Guthrie
began to develop a passion for music. He started busking on the streets and
performing for family friends, who invited him into their homes. The family
survived thanks to very little money collected by Woody’s father and Woody
himself. At the age of 19, Woody Guthrie left Texas and his family for a new
destination:
California. I find it very interesting to learn about Guthrie’s early life. However, my
curiosity is focused on his traveling years, which are at the basis of his fabulous
musical career. As I was saying earlier Guthrie left Texas at the age of 19. Certainly,
it was something he resented a lot. Texas had been the place where he had been
raised, lived with his family and seen the many difficulties life had given him … he
was now ready for a new adventure: California. I would like to construct a brief
timeline of his major traveling experiences, adding comments and opinions on the life
of this hero. Woody Guthrie achieved fame in Los Angeles, California, where he
started working as a performer of traditional folk music. This first point is already
very interesting. We learn about Guthrie’s strong personality, which helps him
interact with the society. Guthrie earned enough money to support his family, still
living in Texas. In the 1930’s we see Woody Guthrie’s real personality. He starts
writing protest songs that eventually were all collected in Dust Bowl Ballads.
In the 1930’s the political situation in the United States was not as simple as
we think. Hitler had become chancellor of Germany and many European nations
submitted to the Nazis. The U.S. still uncertain whether to take part in the
war, had to deal with internal problems regarding the country. The nation was
full of political difficulties - on one hand there were the right-wing
conservatives (Ku Klux Klan for example), on the other we had the U.S.
communist party; it seemed as if the two political parties couldn’t find any
agreements. In these years Woody Guthrie takes one of the most important
decisions of his life - he signs to become part of the Communist party. At this
point, I would like to briefly comment the musician’s choice of becoming part
of the party and the consequences it had on his life. First of all, it is good to
say that overall, communism is a concept which varies from country to country.
The communism adopted by Stalin in Russia is certainly different from the
communist party established in the U.S. in the early 1920’s. I imagine Woody
Guthrie as a preacher in a certain way. In his songs he preached the concepts
of equality between all men. In his song “Jesus Christ” he presents Jesus’
figure as an invitation for all men to be equal and share the same rights. As a
consequence then, I would say that the reasons for Woody supporting the
communist party are perfectly valid. However, I think his choice was not very
wise, because in a moment of political instability like the ‘30’s, he could have
risked his career, for a political choice. In addition, I admire Woody Guthrie’s
strong belief to never abandon faith or spirituality in such a political context.
Woody Guthrie’s permanence in California was not as benevolent as he desired,
however. After only a few years of working in Los Angeles as a folk singer, he
was forced to return to Texas due to political issues. However, Woody’s
ambition was too strong and he prepared for a new mission: New York City. At
this point of our adventure, I would like to say that my admiration for this
character increases day by day. When I first heard of these biographical
events I thought of how ambitious this man was, and how in the most difficult
situations he had been capable of finding solutions. Learning about Woody
Guthrie’s traveling experiences have been a lesson for me to learn for life:
that in moments of great difficulty we must go to the very end in order to
achieve something and eventually our dreams will come true. Arriving in New
York, Guthrie, known as "the Oklahoma cowboy", started making his first
success as a musician. Many of his songs were recorded including an album Dust
Bowl Ballads. Woody Guthrie’s experience in New York was certainly positive
and he was capable of writing and performing beautiful songs like, “This Land is
Your Land” in response to Irving Berlin’s, “God Bless America”.
I am very interested in history. Therefore, I was very curious to learn about
Guthrie’s experience during of one of history’s greatest events-World War II.
In a way Woody Guthrie is like John Ford. They were two men whose
profession wasn’t their only occupation; they did many things in their lives.
During the war years Woody’s friends Cisco Houston and Jim Longhi pressured
him to join the U.S. Merchant marine. He participated in transatlantic voyages,
serving as a dishwasher and occasionally performing for the crew. This is an
important point in Woody’s life. At this point of his life he is conscious of what
the world really is; he no longer lives in a small village in Texas and is now alert
to the circumstances which surround his nation. It’s interesting however, to
see how Guthrie’s personality never changed in these years. Never being in
contact with his family, working on ships all year, and not having a home of his
never changed his way of behaving and interacting with the world around him.
His humor, his courage and determination were always present… qualities he
always maintained. I would be very interested to read the exact sensations
Woody had when he was part of the U.S. Merchant marine. I looked up in many
books and watched documentaries, but I still couldn’t find the correct answer.
Guthrie’s main experiences were summarized in a book published by his friend
Longhi - ‘Woody Cisco and Me’. I started reading the book and enjoyed it a lot
because it offers a rare first-hand account of Guthrie during his experiences
in the Merchant Marine. It is interesting to know how Woody Guthrie spent his
time during the period of World War II. However I still have to present
Woody’s major experiences during the war. At first, when I was reading all
this information on the singer I thought what an intelligent man he must be to
be able to have covered so many things during his life … from music to being a
dishwasher and war participant. This thought of mine has definitely remained
the same and with the passing of time is becoming bigger and bigger. As I was
saying Woody Guthrie had to face many difficulties after his experiences in
the Merchant Marine. His association with Communism limited further service
in the Merchant Marine but finally he was drafted in the U.S Army. At this
point I would like to make a short comment about Guthrie’s exile from the
Merchant Marine. It is clear how the values of human rights, liberty of
thought and speech were violated in the 1930’s-1940’s. I really can’t believe
that a person should be judged on their political or religious ideas. In modern
times we hear about prejudice and discriminatory attitudes all the
time, but fortunately, however, our situation has slightly improved. Woody
Guthrie was an extraordinary person; generous, nice to people, comforting, he
did everything he could to deserve people’s love. How can his “communist” ideas
change the opinion about him? While reading, I was happy to know that the
years Guthrie passed in the U.S army were periods of happiness. While he was
on furlough from the Army, Guthrie married Marjorie. After this discharge,
they moved into a house on Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island, and over time had
four children. One of their children, Cathy, died as a result of a fire at age
four, sending Guthrie into a serious depression. Their other children were
named Joady, Nora and Arlo. Arlo followed in his father's footsteps as a
singer-songwriter. During this period, Guthrie wrote and recorded, Songs to
Grow on for Mother and Child, a collection of children's music, which includes
the song "Goodnight Little Arlo (Goodnight Little Darlin')", written when Arlo
was about nine years old. Before continuing our detailed exploration of the
musician, I would like to conclude the discussion on Guthrie’s personality. We
all know, that war is a period of great sadness. Woody actively participated in
the war: he was part of the Merchant Marine, the U.S. Army and mostly
covered the “war topic” with his songs. Before I said that Woody Guthrie’s
heroism is due to his personality. The answer is definitely correct. In moments
of drama, of sadness and injustice between men Guthrie found the courage and
determination to get what he wanted from his own life; he married, he had
children and most importantly he had his passion - music which helped him day
by day to explore a world without war, full of peace, happiness and joy. Let’s
terminate the third stop of our trip with four words: GUTHRIE WAS A HERO.
Health and music are two very important topics, and are perfectly linked to
Woody Guthrie’s life. It is interesting to see the two opposites of Woody
Guthrie. On one hand we have the high-energy musician, while on the other we
see a 50 year old person in hospital, helpless and waiting for death. Guthrie’s
musical career is rich with incredible experiences, which are definitely worth
writing about. However, while reading Guthrie ‘s autobiography,“Bound for
Glory”, I found out that one particular event was extremely significant in
Guthrie’s musical career. In my opinion Woody Guthrie was able to reach very
high levels even thanks to the ongoing interactions he had with other
musicians. This important event is the joining of the Almanac singers. The
singers originally worked and performed in New York City, birthplace of Pete
Seeger, another important member of the group. Initially Guthrie helped write
and sing what the Almanac Singers termed, ‘peace songs’, while the Nazi-Soviet
Pact was in effect. Until Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the
Communist line was that World War II was a capitalist fraud. After Hitler's
invasion of the Soviet Union the topics of their songs became anti-fascist. This
is an important point in Guthrie’s musical career. While listening to Guthrie’s
lyrics (at least some of them) I realized the importance of politics to him.
Guthrie’s “protest” towards the fascist regimes in Europe is a message of hope
and awareness he was sending to the whole world. He was conscious that while
living under certain dictatorships the rights of men were constantly violated,
for the wish of having control on everything and anyone. Woody Guthrie and
the Almanac singers moved to different places over the course of several
years. They wrote and performed brilliant songs which were later published.
“Union Maid” for example is a stirring song written by Woody Guthrie in
collaboration with the Almanac singers. Our journey has taught us how to
understand Woody Guthrie’s lyrics. There are many ways songs can express
ideas: through literature, history and sometimes even religion.
I am very interested in studying Guthrie’s religious ideas and how he applied
them to his songs. It appears to me from my extensive research that Woody
Guthrie was Jewish. It is evident that at the time of the Communist Party
there was very little freedom of religion, and sometimes declaring your
spiritual ideas could cost you a big price. However, Woody Guthrie always
remained very attached to religion and spirituality. He performed a number of
Jewish lyrics in his life, which are very famous and tell us lots about the
composer. In the rest of our journey we will acknowledge the basics of
Guthrie’s Jewish lyrics but we will also try and understand why they are so
important. During the first years of the 1900’s till World War II, Jews have
had problems in the society. In Germany in 1936 the racial laws of Norimberg
were set up, preventing Jews from having any position in society and most of
all a personal identity. The rest of Europe, apart from very few countries (like
England) were in a certain way attached to a right-wing, fascist background
which like the Nazis was discriminatory towards the Jewish people. This hate
towards the Jewish people and their religion is known as “anti-semitism” or
against the populations of Semitic origins (term used in the Bible to indicate
the occupiers of the lands of Ancient Palestine). Soon anti-semitism became a
very important issue that Europeans had to deal with. In the 1940’s a new form
of terror emerged in Europe: The holocaust, or better, the extermination of 6
million Hebrews. This was the situation in Europe, terrible, full of hatred and
prejudice. Here of course we can make a link to Woody Guthrie. Guthrie had
been in the U.S. Marine and was aware of the situation. His Jewish lyrics had
many intentions, but certainly one was to denounce the governments of these
fascist nations and the cruelties they were committing. Guthrie’s Jewish lyrics
can be traced to the unusual collaborative relationship he had with his motherin-law, Aliza Greenblatt, a prominent Yiddish poet who lived across from
Guthrie and his family in Brooklyn in the 1940s. Guthrie – the Oklahoma
troubadour – and Greenblatt – the Jewish wordsmith – often discussed their
artistic projects and critiqued each other’s works, finding common ground in
their shared love of culture and social justice, despite very different
backgrounds. Their collaboration flourished in 1940s Brooklyn, where Jewish
culture was interwoven with music, modern dance, poetry and anti-fascist, prolabor activism. It is very interesting to learn about Woody Guthrie’s music, his
career, experiences, and most of all, how he applied music to his every day life.
The next topic we are going to cover is Guthrie’s deteriorating health. Woody
Guthrie died at the age of 55 of Huntington’s Chorea. I imagine what a moment
of great shock it would have been for the family, to lose such a wonderful
relative and for the American society to lose such an incredible musician and
HERO. By the late 1940s, Guthrie's health was declining and his behavior was
becoming extremely erratic. He received various diagnoses (including
alcoholism and schizophrenia), but in 1952 it was finally determined that he
was suffering from Huntington's disease, the genetic disorder inherited from
his mother. Believing him to be a danger to their children, Marjorie suggested
he return to California without her; they eventually divorced.
‘Bound For Glory’, is Woody Guthrie’s very interesting autobiography. He writes
in slang, sometimes improper English, but gives us very detailed descriptions of
his main life experiences. I made a selection of what I thought were the two
most interesting chapters: Fire extinguishers and new kittens. I really like
Woody Guthrie’s style of writing. I admire his great capacity for getting
directly to the point, very concisely and directly. In the first of the 2
chapters, Fire Extinguishers, Guthrie tells us about a series of interesting
events in his childhood . He starts the chapter describing to us the difficulties
the family had to deal with after the death of his sister Clara in a coil-oil fire.
Guthrie tells us that one day when he was walking down the road he was
informed that a house in the neighborhood was burning. Soon a car came to
pick him up, took him to his home and there he discovered the damage the fire
had caused to his home, his family and most of all to his sister Clara. His sister
had suffered from a series of very serious burns, while attempting to rescue
herself from the flames. There is a very detailed description regarding the
conversations between him and his sister while she was lying desperately in her
bedroom. I was very touched while reading this section of the chapter and I
realized that brother and sister were joined by such great love and respect
for each other. In the next section of the chapter Guthrie tells about his
mother’s illness. As we have discovered earlier in our journey, Guthrie’s mother
suffered from Huntington’s disease. In those years her illness reached the
highest form of pain and suffering. Guthrie gives sad and detailed descriptions
of his mother’s symptoms caused by the disease. He mentions facial and arm
muscles debilitation, vomit, anger and most of all uncontrolled movements. He
said that most of the time his mother didn’t know what she was doing: her
actions could not be controlled by anyone, not even by herself. She broke
furniture, threw plates and glasses through the house and acted strangely and
aggressively towards her husband and children. These pages made me reflect
on how Woody Guthrie must have felt when he was a young boy like me. “You
hate to read about a mother described in any such words as these. I know. I
understand you. I hope you can understand me, for it must be broke down and
said.” The chapter continues describing when they moved from Pampa (Texas)
to Oklahoma City in 1923. The family had lost most of their money and the only
chance was sending Guthrie’s mother away, as the doctor had suggested.
Guthrie’s mother started feeling better once they moved. The title of this
chapter derives from Woody Guthrie’s father attempts at selling some “fire
extinguishers” in order to earn some money. Unfortunately however, all his
attempts fail. Woody says that he barely sold one a month and decided to work
in a grocery story for 1$ a day. This point of the chapter is very important as
well. There is an evident connection to John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath”
and “Of Mice and Men”- men are looking for prosperity and wealth they cannot
obtain. Towards the end of the chapter we discover that Woody Guthrie’s
father was suffering from the same symptoms of Huntington’s Chorea. Guthrie
had to rub his hands and feet every night in order to relieve the symptoms and
to make him feel better. Here, we have another important point. It may seem
very normal, but it isn’t. There is a great form of respect and love Guthrie has
towards his father. The chapter ends with the death of Woody Guthrie’s uncle,
Leonard Tanner, in a motorcycle accident. This chapter is very interesting
because it gives us a general idea of Woody Guthrie’s family, his life and how
he was as a child.
At this point after having said all these things what conclusion can we
make about Woody Guthrie, as a person, philosopher and musician? Although
Woody Guthrie had a very difficult childhood and he encountered many
obstacles Woody Guthrie always remained cheerful and happy till the day of
his death. Many musicians after Woody Guthrie were inspired by his songs,
admired him and certainly always kept him in their hearts. Woody Guthrie will
always be remembered as the father of American folk music and as a symbol
for his nation. GUTHRIE WAS A HERO