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Woody Guthrie's wonderful list of New Year's resolutions for 1942
Sometime at the end of 1941, just as the United States was getting involved in WWII, the famed singer-songwriter Woodie Guthrie sat down and wrote a list of New Year's resolutions filled with wisdom that withstands the test of time.
Tue, Dec 27 2011 at 1:47 AM
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Woody Guthrie, the legendary singer-songwriter best known for his song "This Land Is Your Land," drafted a delightful list of New Year's resolutions for 1942 that Boing Boing turned up.
His list is a great mix of aspirations that range from commonsense goals like "work more and better" and "wear clean clothes - look good" to the more philosophical in "keep hoping machine running," "dream good" and "wake up and fight." You can never go wrong with "read lots good books," "stay glad" and "love everybody." A feeling of joyful playfulness is evident throughout the list, though his goal to "help win war -beat fascism" is a stark sign of the times — at the end of 1941, the U.S. was dragged into World War II by the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7. The list is a fascinating piece of history.
Check out his entire two-page, side-by-side list here presented with one page on top of the other:
With New Year's Eve coming up, a lot of people are thinking about their own list of resolutions. What about you? What will you endeavor to achieve in the new year? Any environmental resolutions to live a greener life?
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These would work even better in 2012 than the 1940s.
33: Wake up and fight!
That's a resolution? I thought it was called "marriage." ;)
If I can take on board "Wake up and fight"
everything else should (fingers crossed) fall into place.
Makes life seem so easy, love the last one "wake up and fight" so many people accept defeat before even getting out of bed.
Happy New Year to All
Love.
Like his lyrics and his voice - clear and forceful.
Love it -- and I plan to make "take a bath" one of my New Year's resolutions as well!
One thing that strikes me here is how personal and low-key and simple and pure that these resolutions are....no grand versions of saving the world....but just being a good man.