Woody's Land

How did Woody become a "spokesman for the common man"?

Woody lived and continuously presented himself as if he was the quintessential common man. Maintaining this working class image was probably also important for his professional success, in a time where Americans were struggling and immigrants were desperately trying to become American. In a lot of ways he was a common man - traveling out of the Dust Bowl to find work, contributing to the US's efforts in the war any way he could, losing and gaining loved ones, et cetera, but in a lot of ways he wasn't. I don't really know to what extent Woody's life path was unique in the context of that era, or whether the tragically recurring theme of destructive fire in his life was commonplace; Woody's almost as much of a mystery as Leadbelly. I'm also curious to know more about the role of Huntington's disease in his life philosophy. Did Woody live so positively and so adventurously, striving to influence as many people as possible with his music, because he knew that his life would end rather prematurely and in rather bad circumstances?

This machine kills fascists.

I read somewhere (probably Wikipedia) that Woody was actually not very political at all, but that he was just inevitably immersed in political times. Did he really believe that his music could kill fascism? That his guitar was a machine? Because I don't particularly hear that in his songs (maybe I need to listen to the more fascism-centered ones). What I do hear is patriotism and a strong sense of solidarity. I can also hear the essential role music took on in Woody's life - his guitar was his pride and joy, his meal ticket, and what defined his being in his travels and his work. Woody unfortunately didn't succeed in killing fascism (or fascists) with his music, but he did succeed with This Land is Your Land which is almost certainly more well known and widely sung than the national anthem...

Studs Terkel's introduction of Bound for Glory reveals Woody's core ingenuity and humbleness, but Woody's family history and his musical, artistic, and journalistic work reveal much more that is not explicitly expressed. Woody was an artist in all the ways possible, and I believe that he could have achieved great success (though maybe only after his death, as with many other great writers) with his writing alone.