Woody Guthrie (1912 - 1967) was the most important American folk music artist of the first half of the 20th century. Coming out of Oklahoma, Guthrie had firsthand knowledge of the Dust Bowl diaspora chronicled in John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath. In fact, Guthrie wrote his own version of the story in a song called "Tom Joad." By the time he gained recognition in the '40s, Guthrie had written hundreds of songs, many of which remain folk standards to this day. He was also an author (Bound for Glory) and a newspaper columnist. Guthrie made some recordings for RCA in 1940, but much of his work was issued on the small Folkways label.
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Grand Coulee Dam Lyrics
Woody Guthrie
Now the world holds seven wonders that the travelers always tell
Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well.
But now the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam's fair land
It's the big Columbia River and the biog Grand Coulee dam.
She heads up the Canadian Rockies where the rippling waters glide
Comes roaring down the canyon to meet that salty tide;
From the big Pacific Ocean where the sun sets in the west
It's the big Grand Coulee cuntry, in the land that I love best.
In the misty crystal glitter of the wild and windward spray
I fought the pounding waters and met a watery grave,
When she tore their boats to dplinters and she gave men dreams to dream
On the day the Coulee dam was crossed by the wild and wasted stream.
Uncle Sam took up the challenge in the year of thirty three
For the farmer and the factory and all of you and me
He said, "Roll along Columbia, you can roll down to the sea
But river, while you're rambling, you can do some work for me.
Now from Washington and Oregon you can hear the factories hum
Making chrome and making manganese and white aluminum.
Now roars the Flying Fortress, for the fight for Uncle Sam
On the howling King Columbia, by the big Grand Coulee Dam.
note: Originally sung to Wabash Cannonball. When copyright holders for
the Cannonball complained, Guthrie wrote a modified tune.
copyright Ludlow Music, 1958