ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Woody Guthrie improvised upon the good man outlaw tradition, the archetypal model of the complexities of the American Radical Patriot in the public imagination, as a way to perform his radicalism. Guthrie playing his Dustiest of the Dust Bowlers role, the metaphoric, singing Historical Bum, and he makes them about himself in his performance no matter how much he defers to the plight of his fellow Okies. Guthrie was not the only one who felt this way about outlaws in the 1930s, when the good man populist outlaw model was culturally pervasive. In 1938, Roy Rogers played the role of a good man version of Billy the Kid in Billy the Kid Returns. The famous phrase Guthrie painted on his guitar as seen in the iconic Balog photograph demonstrates, in addition to the performative force of music, Guthrie's complex patriotism. "This Machine Kills Fascists" was actually a home-front slogan meant to boost patriotic morale in factory workers.
