On that other side

Woody Guthrie wrote an iconic American folk song called “This Land is Your Land” in 1940. I sang it elementary school and you probably did too. Guthrie, a Dust Bowl troubadour was one of the most significant musical influences on Bob Dylan, born in Duluth as Robert Zimmerman and raised in Hibbing on the Iron Range just down the street from the hospital where I was born. Dylan, in turn, served as a significant influence on Bruce Springsteen, who with Pete Seeger this past weekend, sang “This Land Is Your Land” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a pre-inauguration concert. Included in the well-known song was a verse that Guthrie wrote and sang but that didn’t appear in the elementary school version.

As I went walking I saw a sign there

And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.”

But on the other 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. (WoodyGuthrie.org)

There will be a good deal of sentimentality and impossible expectations out of today’s inauguration of Barack Obama. But when you think about all the old assumptions about race and culture that exist in this country, you can’t deny that some things have changed permanently. And, by and large, this is a universal good for the people who follow in the footsteps of today’s generation. The next mountain is the one Guthrie spoke of most and the central challenge of this nation: the vast wall of poverty that holds millions from the Promised Land unlocked today.