"Ain't Got No Home" (or "I Ain't Got No Home in This World Anymore") is a song by

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

, released on ''

Dust Bowl Ballads ''Dust Bowl Ballads'' is an album by American folk singer Woody Guthrie. It was released by Victor Records, in 1940. All the songs on the album deal with the Dust Bowl and its effects on the country and its people. It is considered to be one of ...

'', in which the singer laments the difficulties that life presents him. It was based on a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

song Guthrie heard on his visits to the migrant camps known variously as "Can't Feel at Home" or "I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore," which had been made popular by the

Carter Family Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. ...

in 1931. Guthrie wrote his version of the song in response to this version, in an attempt to capture more effectively the "unrelieved anger" of the

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) a ...

refugees. He was outraged by the song's message and the effects it had on the migrants, telling them to wait, and be meek. It was telling them to accept the hovels and the hunger and the disease and to not fight back. Guthrie's version

parodies A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

the original song's fundamentalist religious sentiment that the poor should accept suffering in this world for rewards in the hereafter. An unreleased variant of the song protests the segregation at the Beach Haven apartment complex owned by

Fred Trump Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real estate developer and businessman. A member of the Trump family, he was the father of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. In partnership w ...

, the father of United States President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, which he stayed at from 1950 to 1952: "Beach Haven looks like heaven / Where no black ones come to roam! / No, no, no! Old Man Trump! / Old Beach Haven ain’t my home!" This is similar in topic to Guthrie's unreleased song " Old Man Trump."

Recordings

Guthrie's friend

Cisco Houston Gilbert Vandine "Cisco" Houston (August 18, 1918 – April 29, 1961) was an American folk singer and songwriter, who is closely associated with Woody Guthrie due to their extensive history of recording together. Houston was a regular recording ...

recorded the song for his 1960 album '' Cisco Houston Sings Songs of the Open Road''. Bruce Springsteen recorded the song for '' Folkways: A Vision Shared'', a 1988 compendium of song recordings written by Guthrie and Lead Belly. British folk musician Billy Bragg covered the song for his 2013 album '' Tooth & Nail''.

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

performed the song with The Band at both the afternoon and evening concerts for A Tribute To Woody Guthrie at Carnegie Hall on January 20, 1968. A recording of the first performance was released in 1972 on "A Tribute To Woody Guthrie Part One" Columbia KC 31171.

References

External links

Lyrics for the song
on the Woody Guthrie official website Woody Guthrie songs Songs about homelessness Year of song unknown Songs written by Woody Guthrie Works about the Dust Bowl {{folk-song-stub