Recorded at Sound Cloud Studios circa 2001 with Moxie!
Written….hmmmm…I’d say about the copyright year of 1997, with the memories of a lil’ neighborhood in Georgia fresh in my mind.
I’d lived there for four years, and though I’d met some beautiful people, the predominant society was that of conformity, rather than unique individualistic expression. Church, dress style, social activity. I even heard of a development that required you to paint your house a certain color. I wrote little when I was there. It could have been for other reasons, such as a grueling post graduate schedule or taxing relationship. Strangely, I wrote a lot about that town in the years after I left.
Obviously the song is about issues much more problematic than individual expression, but I remember that the pressures such as to go to Bible Study really hit a personal cord.
Musically, I remember the influences as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. At the time, I was actually a die hard Ani Difranco fan, and to this day never owned a single Guthrie or Seeger album. However, immersing myself in the overtly political Difranco material created a deep awe for the subtly political sing-a-longs like “This Land Is My Land”. They’re almost like children’s songs, and in fact, I didn’t realize they were political until about that time!
This song was made into an incredible music video by filmmakers Missy Donatuti and Michael Kinney, as well as featured in the soundtrack of a Dawson’s Creek episode and two documentaries (about women who rock and another about feminism).