Woody_Guthrie
Woody Guthrie, 1943. Photo by Al Aumuller/New York World-Telegram and the Sun
There's a hundred songs or more you could think of today. I picked this one.
Woody would have been one hundred yesterday. Couldn't let it pass without saying something.
Do Re Mi
by Woody Guthrie
Lots of folks back East, they say, is leavin' home every day,
Beatin' the hot old dusty way to the California line.
'Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin' out of that old dust bowl,
They think they're goin' to a sugar bowl, but here's what they find
Now, the police at the port of entry say,
"You're number fourteen thousand for today."
Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi, folks, you ain't got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.
You want to buy you a home or a farm, that can't deal nobody harm,
Or take your vacation by the mountains or sea.
Don't swap your old cow for a car, you better stay right where you are,
Better take this little tip from me.
'Cause I look through the want ads every day
But the headlines on the papers always say:
If you ain't got the do re mi, boys, you ain't got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.
© Copyright 1961 (renewed) by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)
The intersection of Fourth and Main Streets in downtown Los Angeles is known as
Woody Guthrie Square, dedicated in April of this year.
In the early fifties, with his health failing, Woody lived up in Topanga Canyon with
Will Geer and his family. Woody and Will built a little shack off to one side where Woody
could play his guitar and continue to write songs.
woody's shack
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