All you fascists bound to lose: The importance of Woody Guthrie in the age of Donald Trump
Four years ago, a far-right mob attacked and rioted inside the United States Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Now, the man who inspired, spurred on and subsequently defended those rioters holds the office of President, and multiple pillars of American democracy seem to be eroded day by day. American politics has experienced untold change over the past century, with the introduction of neo-liberalism under Reagan and the normalisation of restrictive, racist attitudes under Bush and, most recently, Donald Trump.
Trump’s rise to power is an incredibly long, complex, and well-documented story which, by this point, the vast majority of you will be intimately familiar with. Regardless of your view of the man or the steady descent into fascism that is currently going on throughout virtually all aspects of the United States government, American politics is in an inarguably unique state at current. Throughout history, many people have taken solace in the world of music, seeking comfort in difficult times, and folk singer Woody Guthrie always had a particular way of handling political discussion points.
Emerging from the Dust Bowl period of the 1930s, Guthrie lent his distinctive voice to countless different folk songs over the course of his illustrious career. Along the way, he penned works like ‘This Land Is Your Land’, a song that went on to be taught in schools and sung at public gatherings all across the United States – it was even added to the National Recording Registry in 2022. Like many musicians, however, Guthrie’s message was often misunderstood.
‘This Land Is Your Land’ might seem, at first glance, like a patriotic anthem boasting about the liberty and freedom purposed by the American way of life, but it has always been, at heart, a protest song. Rallying against the idea of private land and ownership, the song laments the capitalist system inherent in US society. Indeed, if you look across Guthrie’s discography, you will find countless protest anthems aimed at the capitalist system, with the folk singer routinely calling for class consciousness and proletariat liberation.
Ultimately, though, the majority of Guthrie’s material was recorded some 80 years ago. With the ever-changing political landscape both in the United States and across the globe, does his work remain relevant to modern audiences? His inspiring songs detailing the fight against fascism certainly seem more pertinent with every passing day, and his criticisms of capitalism have been vindicated on countless occasions. In all of his work, though, there was a sense of hope for the future of America, a sense of hope that seems to be slipping away quite rapidly.
After all, the America that Guthrie sang about all those years ago is virtually unrecognisable from the state of the nation today. The 1940s was a time of radical change, with FDR’s ‘New Deal’ economic policy dragging the nation from the clutches of the Great Depression and promoting a number of socialist-influenced policies. While there were still key issues in American society, the prevalence of racial predjudice and segregation being the predominant one, there was a sense – however small – that things were improving.
Now, on the other hand, a former television star and businessman who incited a coup only four years ago, along with the unelected South African tech billionaire Elon Musk, are ripping up the constitution and removing key methods of protection for the most vulnerable members of society. The situation is virtually unrecognisable from the days of Woody Guthrie.
Ironically, though, Guthrie saw a lot of it coming. Back in 1954, he even wrote the song ‘Old Man Trump’, about the overt racism and housing discrimination of Fred Trump – father of the current president. Although focused on issues different from those currently facing US society and a different member of the Trump dynasty, the inherent spirit of the song still rings true to this day. Such is the timeless appeal of Woody Guthrie; his key message never lost relevance or impact.
Sure, Guthrie could never have predicted the rise of an Apartheid tech billionaire like Musk, and he probably would not have pegged game show host Donald Trump as America’s next top dictator, but the spirit of anti-fascist resistance that permeates through virtually all of his songwriting is perhaps more relevant today than ever before.
So, while he might be misremembered as an unwaveringly patriotic all-American songwriter, Woody Guthrie dedicated himself endlessly to calling out regressive and dangerous political policies as well as calling for unity and class consciousness. As such, his importance continues as a sign of hope and resistance against fascism and the iron fist of the establishment.
Hope is in short supply as of late, but Guthrie’s work still provides that precious resource in abundance. Today’s geopolitical landscape is worlds apart from the folk singer’s heyday, but that core message within his work has only seemed to increase in relevance, particularly within the age of Trump.
