"This Land" was inspired by an incident in which Clark's neighbor repeatedly asked who lived on the singer's 50 acres (20 ha) property in Austin, Texas, and would not believe that Clark, a Black man, owned the home.[4]
The lyrics make several references to other songs and aspects of American culture. One of the opening lines, "Fifty acres and Model A", reflect the promise of forty acres and a mule to be given to families of freed American slaves, while the title of the song is a direct reference to the famous Woody Guthrie folk song "This Land Is Your Land".[5] Clark Jr., who previously chose to stay away from making overtly political music, used the works of Guthrie, Big Bill Broonzy, and Lead Belly as inspiration for "This Land".[6]
Critical reception
Music critics who reviewed This Land tended to emphasize the differences between the title track and the rest of the album. Writing for Pitchfork, Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the way that Clark Jr. was able to "[channel] his anger over this casual racism into a dose of fury so controlled, its origin becomes obscured", but mentioned that the track "isn't necessarily a harbinger for the rest of" the album.[7]
Music video
An official music video for "This Land" was released the same day as the song. Directed by Savanah Leaf, the video was filmed on Clark Jr.'s Texas property and depicts a young boy surrounded by symbols of American racism, such as the Confederate battle flag.[8]
Clark Jr. first performed "This Land" live on January 10, 2019, with a performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also debuted "Feed the Babies", another song from This Land, accompanied by Jon Batiste and the Stay Humanhouse band.[10] On February 16, 2019, Clark Jr. performed "This Land" and "Pearl Cadillac" when he starred as the weekly musical guest on Saturday Night Live.[11] He next performed the song live at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, with The Roots serving as his backing band. Clark Jr. performed against a backdrop of an Antebellum-era mansion, with flames growing higher in the background.[12]
