Woody Guthrie’s “The Ballad of Tom Joad” and Its Reflections

Most of us know Steinbeck’s revolutionary novel The Grapes of Wrath. After getting out from the

prison, Tom Joad comes back to his family’s farm in Oklahoma. However, he learns that his family

has to leave their homes due to the Dust Bowl. He meets Preacher Casey and together with him Tom

finds his family. He finds his mother and father getting ready for moving to California because they’ve

heard that there are many job opportunities there. The Joads leave for California with great

expectations but when they arrive, they cannot find what they have hoped. There are thousands of

starving migrants there who are excluded from the society by the local people calling them “Okies”

and have to live in dirty camps. Also there is no job for everyone and the wages are so low that even if

all the family members work, the total of their wages isn’t enough to buy a decent meal for them

because the landowners and the bankers exploit them by making them poor and dependent. Preacher

Casey tells Tom Joad the only way of getting rid of this misery is to unify. Without carrying out his

plans, Preacher Casey is shot by a deputy. Then Tom Joad kills a policeman and has to run away and

hide. However, he doesn’t give up his goals and keeps on working to organize the workers to save

them from this misery.

Steinbeck’s novel was published in 1939 and John Ford made the film of the book in 1940. After

watching the film, Woody Guthrie was impressed by the film and wanted Pete Seeger to take him a

place where there is a type writer. Together they went to the apartment of a friend. Pete Seeger tells

the rest of the story: “Woody had a half-gallon jug of wine with him, sat down and started typing

away. He would stand up every few seconds and test out a verse on his guitar and sit down and type

some more. About one o’clock my friend and I got so sleepy we couldn’t stay awake. In the morning

we found Woody curled up on the floor under the table; the half gallon of wine was almost empty and

the completed ballad was sitting near the typewriter. And it is one of his masterpieces.” So he wrote

“The Ballad of Tom Joad” in 1940.

“Woody had set the lyrics to the tune of a famous outlaw ballad ‘John Hardy’,” which is a

traditional American folk song based on the life of a railroad worker in West Virginia who was hanged

in 1894 because of killing a man during a game. There are many versions of this ballad but Woody

Guthrie used “the Carter style” made famous by the Carter family, a country group from Virginia.

The rhyme schemes of the two ballads are the same, as well. Let’s look at a verse from each
ballads:

John Harty was a desperate little man, a Tom Joad got out of the old McAlester Pen, a

Carried a gun ev’ry day, b There he got his parole. b

Killed a man in the West Virginia land, c After four long years on a man killing charge,c

Ought-a seen little Johnny get away, B Tom Joad come a walking down the road, poor
boy, B
Ought-a seen little Johnny get away. B
Tom Joad come a walking down the road. B

Woody Guthrie repeats the last lines of all the verses in the ballad to emphasize the meaning of

these lines. Also, like Steinbeck, Woody Guthrie uses local language which makes us feel “a real

Okie telling the story of the other Okies.” Let’s analyze the ballad verse by verse.

Tom Joad got out of the old McAlester Pen;

There he got his parole.

After four long years on a man killing charge,

Tom Joad come a-walkin' down the road, poor boy,

Tom Joad come a-walkin' down the road.

Tom Joad, he met a truck driving man;

There he caught him a ride.

He said, "I just got loose from McAlester Pen

On a charge called homicide,

A charge called homicide."

That truck rolled away in a cloud of dust;

Tommy turned his face toward home.

He met Preacher Casey, and they had a little drink,

But they found that his family they was gone,

He found that his family they was gone.

 He found his mother's old fashion shoe,

Found his daddy's hat.

And he found little Muley and Muley said,

"They've been tractored out by the cats,

They've been tractored out by the cats."

Tom Joad walked down to the neighbor's farm,

Found his family.

They took Preacher Casey and loaded in a car,

And his mother said, "We've got to git away."

His mother said, "We've got to git away."

Now, the twelve of the Joads made a mighty heavy load;

But Grandpa Joad did cry.

He picked up a handful of land in his hand,

Said: "I'm stayin' with the farm till I die.

Yes, I'm stayin' with the farm till I die."

They fed him short ribs and coffee and soothing syrup;

And Grandpa Joad did die.

They buried Grandpa Joad by the side of the road,

Grandma on the California side,

They buried Grandma on the California side.

These lines summarize us the period till the Joads go to California. And we can clearly see how

Woody Guthrie uses the local language. For example, “they was gone, they've been tractored out by

the cats, git away, etc.”

They stood on a mountain and they looked to the west,

And it looked like the promised land.

 That bright green valley with a river running through,

There was work for every single hand, they thought,

There was work for every single hand.

The Joads rolled away to the jungle camp,

There they cooked a stew.

And the hungry little kids of the jungle camp

Said: "We'd like to have some, too."

Said: "We'd like to have some, too."

In the first verse we see the Joads’ hopes for the new land they’re going to. Guthrie uses a Biblical

reference here, “the promised land.” In the second verse we learn the gap between their expectations

and the realities. Again here we can understand from the repeated lines that they don’t have enough

food and the kids are hungry. They do hardly survive.

Now a deputy sheriff fired loose at a man,

Shot a woman in the back.

Before he could take his aim again,

Preacher Casey dropped him in his track, poor boy,

Preacher Casey dropped him in his track.

They handcuffed Casey and they took him in jail;

And then he got away.

And he met Tom Joad on the old river bridge,

And these few words he did say, poor boy,

These few words he did say.

"I preached for the Lord a mighty long time,

Preached about the rich and the poor.

Us workin' folkses, all get together,

'Cause we ain't got a chance anymore.

 We ain't got a chance anymore."

Now, the deputies come, and Tom and Casey run

To the bridge where the water run down.

But the vigilante thugs hit Casey with a club,

They laid Preacher Casey on the ground, poor Casey,

They laid Preacher Casey on the ground.

Tom Joad, he grabbed that deputy's club,

Hit him over the head.

Tom Joad took flight in the dark rainy night,

And a deputy and a preacher lying dead, two men,

A deputy and a preacher lying dead.

People in these camps do not fight only with poverty but also they fight with capitalism which

oppresses them more day by day and its servants, the landowners, police officers, etc. These lines

depict us how the police officers tyrannize these people. Preacher Casey questions the conditions they

are forced to live in and sees the solution in uniting of all workers against the system. Steinbeck

portrays a very different kind of a preacher: a socialist preacher. However he cannot carry out his

plans because he is shot by a policeman. Then Tom Joad kills this policeman and becomes a criminal

again.

Tom run back where his mother was asleep;

He woke her up out of bed.

An' he kissed goodbye to the mother that he loved,

Said what Preacher Casey said, Tom Joad,

He said what Preacher Casey said.

Ever'body might be just one big soul,

Well it looks that a-way to me.

Everywhere that you look, in the day or night,

 That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma,

That's where I'm a-gonna be.

Wherever little children are hungry and cry,

Wherever people ain't free.

Wherever men are fightin' for their rights,

That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma.

That's where I'm a-gonna be.

Tom Joad takes over the mission after Casey is gone. We can understand from these lines that he

will go on fight for their rights against the capitalist powers. Although both the film and the novel ends

Tom’s sister, Rose of Sharon’s breastfeeding of an elderly Okie who is about to die due to hunger,

Woody Guthrie’s only focus is a male figure. Some critics say he portrays Tom Joad as an American

Robin Hood in this ballad.

Of course Woody Guthrie didn’t choose this novel by coincidence. In this novel Steinbeck

openly criticized the capitalist system and believed that the only way of solution was the uniting of the

working class against the capitalist powers exploiting them. Woody Guthrie was a socialist as well.

Therefore, we can say that he shared the same thoughts with Steinbeck, and this ballad reflects his

ideas.

Woody Guthrie’s “The Ballad of Tom Joad” inspired Bruce Springsteen who wrote “The

Ghost of Tom Joad” in 1995.

Man walks along the railroad tracks

He's goin' someplace, and there's no turnin' back

The highway patrol chopper comin' up over the ridge

Man sleeps by a campfire under the bridge

The shelter line stretchin' around the corner

Welcome to the New World Order

Families sleepin' in their cars out in the Southwest

No job, no home, no peace, no rest

No rest!
The highway is alive tonight

Nobody's foolin' nobody as to where it goes

I'm sitting down here in the campfire light

Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls his prayer book out of his sleepin' bag

The Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag

He's waitin' for the time when the last shall be first and the first shall be last

In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass

With a one way ticket to the promised land

With a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand

Searching for a pillow of solid rock

Bathin' in the city's aquaduct

The highway is alive tonight

Nobody's foolin' nobody as to where it goes

I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light

With the Ghost of old Tom Joad

Now Tom said, "Ma, wherever you seen a cop beatin' a guy

Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries

Wherever there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air

Look for me Ma, I'll be there

Wherever somebody's strugglin' for a place to stand

For a decent job or a helpin' hand

Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free

Look in their eyes, Ma, you'll see me"

You'll see me
 The highway is alive tonight

Nobody's foolin' nobody as to where it goes

I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light

With the ghost of Tom Joad

Springsteen attracts the attention to the problems of contemporary America. A critic says “’The

Ghost Of Tom Joad’ is essentially a modern day folk album exploring the underbelly of society. The

stories of the homeless, destitute, lost, and forgotten are told with themes of social repression and

indifference confronting the listener with stark images and messages.” “The Ghost of Tom Joad”

carries the same rebellious soul of Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie. Still people try to survive and the

ones who suffer under the system become homeless, die of starvation, and people do not feel safe.

There are still many people migrating with the hope of better living conditions. However, Springsteen

is not hopeless. He believes that all we need is the ghost of Tom Joad, the soul of this rebellious man.

He waits for this spirit and when people find it, he thinks world will be better place for everybody.
 Works Cited

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Ligne - Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société. Université de Nantes, 2006. Web. 27 Mar 2012.

Bowling, David. "Music Review: Bruce Springsteen- The Ghost of Tom Joad." Blogcritics. N.p., 15

November 2008. Web. 27 Mar 2012. <http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-

bruce-springsteen-the-ghost/>.

Guthrie, Nora. "Tom Joad." Woody Guthrie. Woody Guthrie Foundation, 2000. Web. 27 Mar 2012.

<http://woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Tom_Joad.htm>.

Pond, Steve. "Dust Bowl Songs pt. 4." John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath. Cornell University, 27

July 2009. Web. 27 Mar 2012.

Ready, Laura. "Song Analysis: The Ghost of Tom Joad." Poetry of Song. N.p., 05 September 2008.

Web. 27 Mar. 2012.