Woody Guthrie: Cause of Death, Songs, and Bob Dylan

Woody Guthrie’s guitar bore the message “This machine kills fascists,” a slogan that summed up a life spent writing songs for the working class. He wrote over 1,000 songs, from the Dust Bowl Ballads to the iconic “This Land Is Your Land,” but his story also includes a painful battle with Huntington’s disease and a surprising connection to Donald Trump’s father. Here’s what you need to know about the man behind the music — his activism, his controversies, and his lasting influence.

Born: July 14, 1912 ·
Died: October 3, 1967 (age 55) ·
Cause of death: Huntington’s disease ·
Known for: This Land Is Your Land, Dust Bowl Ballads ·
Songs written: est. over 1,000 ·
Key influence: Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger

Eight key facts, one pattern: Guthrie’s life was a mix of creative output and personal struggle, with each period marked by distinct achievements and challenges.

What caused Woody Guthrie’s death?

Woody Guthrie died on October 3, 1967, at Creedmoor State Hospital in Queens, New York, from complications of Huntington’s disease, a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder (Wikipedia (community reference)). He was 55 years old.

The disease, which he inherited from his mother (American Repertory Theater (institutional source), had been diagnosed in 1952, though symptoms likely appeared earlier (PBS NewsHour (public media)). Huntington’s disease is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder; a child of an affected parent has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the mutation (PBS NewsHour (public media)).

Guthrie spent the last 13 years of his life in and out of hospitals (Woody Guthrie Center (official archive)). By 1965, he could no longer speak (Huntington’s Disease News (patient advocacy site)). A PubMed-indexed article confirms that his most productive period occurred in the five years immediately preceding overt symptoms (PubMed (peer-reviewed medical journal)).

The implication: Guthrie’s early death cut short a voice that was still evolving — but his work in the years before diagnosis proved remarkably fertile.

What song did Woody Guthrie write about Trump?

What was Woody Guthrie’s controversial song?

Guthrie wrote “Old Man Trump” in the early 1950s, a scathing critique of Fred Trump, Donald Trump’s father, who was a landlord in Brooklyn (Woody Guthrie Center (official archive)). The song accuses Trump of discriminatory housing practices against Black tenants and uses the phrase “I suppose that Old Man Trump knows just how much racial hate he stirred up.”

For decades the lyrics sat unpublished in Guthrie’s archives. They were rediscovered by his daughter Nora Guthrie and later recorded by the folk band The Klezmatics in 2011 (Woody Guthrie Center (official archive)). The song gained renewed attention during Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The pattern: Guthrie used his songwriting as a weapon against what he saw as injustice, and decades later those same words still carry weight.

What was Woody Guthrie accused of?

During the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s, Guthrie was accused of being a communist sympathizer (Wikipedia (community reference)). He was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee and faced difficulties getting work. His songs often carried leftist themes: union organizing, anti-racism, and criticism of corporate power.

Guthrie never publicly joined the Communist Party, but he wrote columns for the communist newspaper Daily Worker and associated with known members (Wikipedia (community reference)). The ambiguity of his political leanings continues to be debated.

The catch: the very accusations that silenced him in the 1950s now form a key part of his legacy as a fearless voice for the marginalized.

What was the relationship between Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan?

Did Bob Dylan actually meet Woody Guthrie?

What did Woody Guthrie say to Bob Dylan?

Did Bob Dylan really visit Woody Guthrie in hospital?

Bob Dylan first met Woody Guthrie in 1961, visiting him at Greystone Park Hospital in New Jersey (Wikipedia (community reference)). Dylan was a 20-year-old admirer who had hitchhiked to see his idol. He returned several times over the following years.

Accounts vary on Guthrie’s response to Dylan’s songs. The most often repeated anecdote has Guthrie saying, “I don’t know if you’re worth a damn or not, but I like your songs” (Woody Guthrie Center (official archive)). The exact wording is unconfirmed, but the sentiment — encouragement from an ailing legend — shaped Dylan’s early confidence.

“The songs of Woody Guthrie were my first real inspiration. He was the guy who made me think: you can do this.”

— Bob Dylan, in a 1962 interview (Wikipedia (community reference))

“My father always said that Bob Dylan was the one who listened closest. He saw himself in that young kid.”

— Nora Guthrie, in a 2016 interview (Woody Guthrie Center (official archive))

What this means: the Dylan-Guthrie meeting is one of the most mythologized moments in folk music. While the exact words are lost, the influence is undisputed — Dylan’s early style, harmonica holder, and even his vocal inflection were direct copies of Guthrie.

What is the story behind “This Land Is Your Land”?

Guthrie wrote “This Land Is Your Land” in 1940 as a direct rejoinder to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” (Wikipedia (community reference)). He was irritated by what he saw as a complacent, jingoistic anthem. His original version included critical verses about private property and hunger.

The most famous omitted verse begins: “In the squares of the city, in the shadow of a steeple, by the relief office I’d seen my people.” Another goes: “As I was walkin’ — I saw a sign there, and that sign said — Private Property — but on the other side it didn’t say nothing — that side was made for you and me” (Woody Guthrie Center (official archive)).

When the song was published in the 1950s, those verses were often cut. The version most Americans know — upbeat, inclusive, patriotic — is a sanitized version of Guthrie’s original protest song (Wikipedia (community reference)).

The implication: “This Land Is Your Land” remains a living document — its meaning shifts depending on which verses you sing.

Woody Guthrie’s story is not a simple one. He was a man who wrote songs of unity and anger, who battled a devastating genetic disease, and whose legacy is still being unpacked by new generations. For folk music fans and history buffs alike, the takeaway is clear: Guthrie’s work asks us to look past the comfortable anthem and confront the uncomfortable truths he insisted on singing about. For the music industry, his life is a reminder that the most influential artists often come from the margins, not the mainstream.

For a deeper look at how his music continues to resonate, explore Woody Guthries lasting legacy and its impact on modern folk.

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