Originally titled "God Blessed America," Guthrie wrote this as a parody of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." When Guthrie started writing the song in 1940, the last line in the chorus was "God blessed America for me," which Guthrie eventually changed into "This land was made for you and me." It evolved into a protest anthem as generations of folk singers performed the song, but it is often misinterpreted as a patriotic song. The lyrics express Guthrie's belief that the working class should have the same rights as the rich. Guthrie used the melody from a Carter Family song "When the World's on Fire" for this song with a few changes. The song was written in 1940 but was not recorded by Guthrie until 1944. Other songs by Woody Guthrie in this section are: "Do Re Mi" "Deportees" "Gypsy Davy" "Hard Travelin" "Hard, Ain't It Hard" "Pastures of Plenty" "The Philadelphia Lawyer" "The Reuben James" "So Long, It’s Been Good To Know You" "Talking Blues" "Union Maid" "Woody's Rag"