Gary Clark Jr.’s “This Land” Lyrics Meaning
This song (“This Land”) is based on Gary Clark Jr.’s real-life experiences with racism. As the story goes he bought a very-large piece of land in Texas. And he apparently did so against the racial traditions of the area, as his neighbors refused to believe he actually owned the place. In fact one of them was seemingly on the verge of attacking Gary Clark in front of his own son, as he was under the impression that that the narrator was deceiving him as he insisted that he did in fact own his own land.
Song’s Title (“This Land”)
Thus the title of this song actually points to two different yet similar ideas. The addressee would be one of these same selfsame racist neighbors. And on a personal level, the singer is telling said individual(s) that the land he is claiming as his own is in fact his own. But on a higher, macrocosmic level it points to the issue of racism throughout American society. Or stated differently, the singer does not believe he and his people (i.e. minorities) should be mistreated or discriminated against on American soil. And the reason being is that they have as much of a claim to American citizen, i.e. “this land”, as anyone else. Or as Gary empathically states, he is in fact “America’s son”.
Indeed if you try to take the racism too far with someone like him, he would rather enlist the American authorities to enact justice against the perpetrator. So basically, the singer comes off as someone who does not want anyone attempting to run him on any racial nonsense, for he too has just as much right to own and inhabit American soil as the same person who is trying to make him feel like an outsider.
Facts about “This Land”
Warner Records released “This Land” on 22 February 2019 as the lead single and title track from Gary Clark Jr.’s third album.
On top of Gary Clark Jr.’s thrilling rendition of “This Land”, alongside The Roots, at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards (2020), the song itself took home two trophies. It won in the categories of “Best Rock Performance” and “Best Rock Song“. And the album of the same name also won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
The post-chorus of the song, which reads “this land is mine”, is based on a classic, patriotic American folk song called “This Is Your Land” (1945) by Woodie Guthrie. By virtue of this Mr. Guthrie (1912-1967) is acknowledged as a co-writer alongside Gary Clark Jr.
Gary also co-produced “This Land” in conjunction with Jacob Sciba.
The “governor” and the “judge” referred to in this song are types of guns, not political authorities.