Woody Guthrie: Quotes about people

“Wherever little children are hungry and cry,
Wherever people ain't free.
Wherever men are fightin' for their rights,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma.
That's where I'm a-gonna be.”

Woody Guthrie

"Tom Joad" (1940) http://web.archive.org/20020319170819/www.geocities.com/nashville/3448/tomjoad.html, a ballad based on the character Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Context: p>Ever'body might be just one big soul,
Well it looks that a-way to me.
Everywhere that you look, in the day or night,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma,
That's where I'm a-gonna be.Wherever little children are hungry and cry,
Wherever people ain't free.
Wherever men are fightin' for their rights,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma.
That's where I'm a-gonna be.</p

Men , Children , People , Cry

“The people are building a peaceful world, and when the job is done
That'll be the biggest thing that man has ever done.”

Woody Guthrie

The Columbia River Collection (1941), Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done
Variant: The world is digging, slavery's grave and when the job is done
This'll be the biggest thing that man has ever done.
Context: I'd better quit my talking, 'cause I told you all I know,
But please remember, pardner, wherever you may go,
The people are building a peaceful world, and when the job is done
That'll be the biggest thing that man has ever done.

People , World , Peace

“The world is filled with people who are no longer needed -- and who try to make slaves of all of us -- and they have their music and we have ours.”

Woody Guthrie

People , World , Music

“I'm gonna tell all you fascists, you may be surprised
People all over this world are getting organized
You're bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose

Race hatred cannot stop us, this one thing I know
Poll tax and Jim Crow and greed have got to go
You're bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose

...

People of every color marching side by side
Marching across these fields where a million fascists died
You're bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose

...

I'm going into this battle, take my union gun
Gonna end this world of slavery before this war is won
You're bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose”

Woody Guthrie

All You Fascists (1944) https://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/All_You_Fascists.htm

War , People , World , Color

“One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the Relief Office I saw my people —
As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if
God blessed America for me.”

Woody Guthrie

Final stanza of manuscript notes for "God Blessed America" which later became "This Land Is Your Land" (23 February 1940)

God , People