Woody Guthrie Archives
LYRICS

Woody Guthrie was an extremely prolific artist, and composed thousands of songs during his lifetime. The Archives holds 2998 individual lyrics, penned by Guthrie on a variety of mediums, including tissue paper, onionskin, gift-wrap, napkins, concert programs, and even placemats! Some of these lyrics are in the form of loose-leaf sheets, others are written directly in notebooks or journals, others are pasted into oversized notebooks, and still more are loose sheets collected by Guthrie, which he bound himself.

The Archives organizes lyrics into three categories:

Songs - 1
Unbound, loose single-page lyrics, housed in folders and arranged alphabetically.

Songs - 2
Bound journals or notebooks containing lyrics, but which may also include drawings, poems, or other notation.

Songs - 3
Oversized bound journals or notebooks containing lyrics either pasted in or composed directly in the book. May also contain art and ephemera.