This Land is Your Land

I forgot to mention that one of the songs at the sing-along was "This Land is Your Land."

It was written in the 40s, but appropriated by the 60s generation and the hippies. While I was listening to the song I was struck by its nationalist (as opposed to truly federalist) understanding of the United States--there is just one land, instead of many, comprised of all the (continguous) states. Even if the 60s protestors were trying to distinguish between the people and the state and the proper origin of political authority, they were nonetheless subscribing to a mistaken view of the United States and their history.

The phrase "This land was made for you and me" is puzzling -- does the original title, "God Blessed America for Me" reveal anything about Mr. Guthrie's understanding of the religious origins of the United States? Does it partake of Manifest Destiny or Yankee/puritan American exceptionalism?

I think the song may be susceptible to a multiculturalist interpretation, in which culture does not matter, just some allegiance to the proposition nation.