The Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done

t’s not among Woody Guthrie’s most well-known songs, but it certainly deserves more recognition. “The Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done” was written during Guthrie’s stay in the Pacific Northwest. The Bonneville Power Administration was creating documentaries to propagandize their public works projects such as the Grand Coulee Dam, and musicologist Alan Lomax recommended the rustic folk singer Woody Guthrie as a narrator. Though initially his role was to be larger, his polarizing political views got him a one month contract assisting with the documentary. As part of this agreement, over the month of May 1941, he would write nearly a song a day for the film and get an opportunity to tour the Columbia River. The splendor of the natural environment was a fantastic inspiration for Guthrie, leading him to compose some of his most famous songs such as “Pastures of Plenty” and “Roll on Columbia.” The dam itself was a tremendous influence on Guthrie, lending itself as the subject of many of his songs and, for our purposes, leading him to proclaim: The greatest thing humankind has ever accomplished, but for the time, even for today, the Grand Coulee Dam was no insignificant accomplishment.