His most famous work is Alice's Restaurant, a talking blues song that lasts eighteen minutes and twenty seconds (in its original recorded version; Guthrie has been known to spin the story out to forty-five minutes in concert). The song, a bitingly satirical protest against the Vietnam War draft, is based on a true incident. In the song, Guthrie was called up for a draft examination, and rejected as unfit for military service as a result of a criminal record consisting in its entirety of a single arrest, court appearance, fine and clean-up order for littering. In reality, Guthrie, though a carrier of the genetically inherited disease Huntington's chorea, was classified as fit (1A); however, his draft-lottery number did not come up.
Grocery Blues
Arlo Guthrie Lyrics
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To get in I had to pay a dime or more
I hadn't yet begun to start
When I had to pay the rent on the shopping cart
Deedle lee dumb, deedle lee dumb
Deedle lee dumb de dumb dumb
And they ran round for a while or more
Till the manager with the broken smile
Said it's a dollar down and a quarter an aisle
Deedle lee dumb, deedle lee dumb
Deedle lee dumb de dumb dumb
I was down in the freezer upon my knees
Somebody was yelling that the price got freezed
There was a rioting mob, a strangling hold
I received the bill for the escaping cold
Deedle lee dumb, deedle lee dumb
Deedle lee dumb de dumb dumb
It was about this time that I was goin' insane
I went and picked the kids up in the other lane
Put back the food and ran out of the store
I ain't goin' back to that place no more
Deedle lee dumb, deedle lee dumb
Deedle lee dumb de dumb dumb
Well I'm tellin the truth now, I don't fib
I don't mind no women's lib
But if my woman don't want to go down to the store
The family ain't gonna eat no more
Deedle lee dumb, deedle lee dumb
Deedle lee dumb de dumb dumb
Arlo Guthrie's song "Grocery Blues" depicts the frustrations and irritations of grocery shopping. The song begins with the singer entering the store, only to realize that the plastic cart he needs to use in the store requires him to pay a fee of a dime or more. He eventually pays the rent on the shopping cart, but the frustrations only continue to mount. He lets his kids run around but gets told by the manager that he needs to pay a dollar down and a quarter for each aisle. The singer then finds himself in the freezer and the price of the product he was planning on buying suddenly puts him in shock. In the end, the singer decides to leave the store, despite needing groceries for his family, because he can't handle the stress anymore.
The song describes shopping as an experience that can easily become chaotic and stressful. The feelings and thoughts of the singer become stronger as the song progresses. The song's structure is very rhythmic, and Guthrie's word choice in the lyrics creates a sense of tension and irritation. Thus, the lyrics convey the humorous and relatable feeling of many people that grocery shopping can be a daunting and irrational experience.
Line by Line Meaning
I went down to the grocery store
I went to the grocery store
To get in I had to pay a dime or more
I had to pay an entry fee to get into the store
I hadn't yet begun to start
I hadn't started shopping yet
When I had to pay the rent on the shopping cart
I had to pay to use a shopping cart
Well I let the kids loose on the floor
I allowed my children to run around the store
And they ran round for a while or more
My children ran around for a while
Till the manager with the broken smile
The unfriendly store manager
Said it's a dollar down and a quarter an aisle
Manager charged me for every aisle I shopped
I was down in the freezer upon my knees
I was looking for something in the freezer
Somebody was yelling that the price got freezed
Somebody was yelling about frozen prices
There was a rioting mob, a strangling hold
A chaotic and overwhelming situation in the store
I received the bill for the escaping cold
I was charged for the cold air escaping the freezer
It was about this time that I was goin' insane
I was becoming very overwhelmed and stressed at this point
I went and picked the kids up in the other lane
I moved to another checkout lane to pick up my children
Put back the food and ran out of the store
I returned the food and left the store in a hurry
I ain't goin' back to that place no more
I decided to never go back to that store again
Well I'm tellin the truth now, I don't fib
I am being honest
I don't mind no women's lib
I don't have a problem with women's liberation
But if my woman don't want to go down to the store
If my wife doesn't want to go to the store
The family ain't gonna eat no more
Then we won't have food to eat
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: ARLO GUTHRIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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