God Bless America (charity album) performed a new arrangement of "God Bless America" on the telethon "". The recorded version of this, done the day before the telethon in the event something happened and Dion could not appear, became the title track of this compilation. It, along with a live acoustic performance by John Mellencamp, were the only tracks on the album not to have been previously released. The selections ranged over many decades, with recordings being used going back to 1945. The span of material was quite large; the album included "This Land Is Your Land", which Woody Guthrie had written in annoyed reaction
Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie "Bob Dylan's New Orleans Rag". However, at the end of the concert, Dylan returned to the stage to recite one of his poems in public, "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie", which he has never done since. In his introduction, Dylan explained that he had written the piece after being asked to "write something about Woody...what does Woody Guthrie mean to you in twenty-five words" in the impending release of a book about Guthrie. He then explained that he "couldn't do it -- I wrote out five pages and... I have it here...Have it here by accident, actually" The poem is