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.
Oh Mom
Arlo Guthrie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All that junk like peace and love is just an aggravation
Ain't got no use for transcendental meditation
Mom, your universal love is such a drag
Well, Mom said, "Dad, he might've been a Virgo
Or a head shop owner, or two freaks from San Francisco
A washed out surfer with his body golden tanned
Feeding me granola and other flakey stuff
You told me meat was hostile, but I just can't get enough
Being vegetarian just ain't quite my scene
There's only so much you can do with soy beans
Mom, your universal love is such a drag
Mom keeps telling me about her days at Woodstock
Half a million space-balls and all of them with their feet stuck
Freaking out on acid and what Bob Dylan says
I think she's tryin' to turn me into Joan Baez
Oh Mom, can't you tell me where your head's at?
I'm sick to death of hearing about
Where you saw the Grateful Deads at
Oh Mom, don't you know this is the eighties?
Oh Mom, can't you relate to what the date is?
Mom's just a throw-back to the sixties generation
All that junk like peace and love is just an aggravation
Ain't got no use for transcendental meditation
Mom, your universal love is such a drag
Arlo Guthrie's "Oh Mom" is a humorous yet satirical song that pokes fun at the hippie movement of the '60s by portraying the strained relationship between a mother and son from two different generations. The lyrics suggest that the mother is a "throwback to the sixties generation" and is obsessed with the counterculture ideologies of peace, love, and spiritualism, which the son considers outdated and irrelevant.
The first verse of the song highlights the son's frustration with his mother's constant preaching about "universal love" and her lack of appreciation for his likes and dislikes. He feels suffocated by her advocacy of transcendental meditation, and her push for him to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle, which he does not prefer. In the second verse, the son mocks his mother's claims of having attended Woodstock and her fixation with '60s icons like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. He feels that his mother is stuck in a time warp and not in sync with the present.
Overall, the song is a clever commentary on how the counterculture movement of the '60s impacted society and how many of its ideas and practices have become increasingly irrelevant over time. It highlights the generational gap between the youth of the '80s and their parents, who had grown up in a different era.
Line by Line Meaning
Mom's just a throw-back to the sixties generation
Arlo thinks his Mom still holds onto the hippie values from the '60s
All that junk like peace and love is just an aggravation
Arlo finds the hippie ideals of peace and love annoying
Ain't got no use for transcendental meditation
Arlo doesn't see the point in his Mom's meditation practices
Mom, your universal love is such a drag
Arlo feels suffocated by his Mom's overwhelming love for everyone
Well, Mom said, "Dad, he might've been a Virgo
Arlo's Mom speculates about his Dad's hippie background
Or a head shop owner, or two freaks from San Francisco
Arlo's Mom thinks his Dad might have been involved in the counterculture scene
A washed out surfer with his body golden tanned
Arlo's Mom imagines his Dad as a laid-back beach bum type
Or some lead singer in a psychedelic band"
Arlo's Mom envisions his Dad as a musician in the '60s
Feeding me granola and other flakey stuff
Arlo's Mom is feeding him health foods
You told me meat was hostile, but I just can't get enough
Arlo doesn't agree with his Mom's vegetarian views
Being vegetarian just ain't quite my scene
Arlo doesn't want to be a vegetarian
There's only so much you can do with soy beans
Arlo thinks vegetarian food is boring
Mom keeps telling me about her days at Woodstock
Arlo's Mom loves to talk about her experiences at Woodstock
Half a million space-balls and all of them with their feet stuck
Arlo's Mom remembers the crowds at Woodstock
Freaking out on acid and what Bob Dylan says
Arlo's Mom reminisces about the drug culture and music of the '60s
I think she's tryin' to turn me into Joan Baez
Arlo feels his Mom is trying to make him into a counterculture figure like Joan Baez
Oh Mom, can't you tell me where your head's at?
Arlo wants to understand his Mom's mindset
I'm sick to death of hearing about
Arlo is tired of his Mom's stories about the '60s
Where you saw the Grateful Deads at
Arlo's Mom talks about seeing the Grateful Dead in concert
Oh Mom, don't you know this is the eighties?
Arlo wants his Mom to realize that it's no longer the '60s
Oh Mom, can't you relate to what the date is?
Arlo thinks his Mom is out of touch with the times
Mom's just a throw-back to the sixties generation
Reiteration of Arlo's belief that his Mom is stuck in the past
All that junk like peace and love is just an aggravation
Reiteration of Arlo's annoyance with hippie ideals
Ain't got no use for transcendental meditation
Reiteration of Arlo's dismissal of meditation
Mom, your universal love is such a drag
Reiteration of Arlo's feeling suffocated by his Mom's love
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kathryngrant2676
Y’all so lazy. If you can’t make out the lyrics, go look ‘em up, like I did. Here they are;
Oh Mom"
Mom's just a throw-back
To the sixties generation
All that junk like peace and love
Is just an aggravation
Ain't got no use for transcendental meditation
Mom, your universal love is such a drag
Well Mom said Dad
He might've been a Virgo
Or a head shop owner
Or two freaks from San Francisco
A washed out surfer with his body golden tanned
Or some lead singer in a psychedelic band
Feeding me granola
And other flakey stuff
You told me meat was hostile
But I just can't get enough
Being vegetarian just ain't quite my scene
There's only so much you can do with soy beans
Mom, your universal love is such a drag
Mom keeps telling me
About her days at Woodstock
Half a million space-balls
And all of them with their feet stuck
Freaking out on acid and what Bob Dylan says
I think she's tryin' to turn me into Joan Baez
Oh Mom can't you tell me where your head's at
I'm sick to death of hearing about
Where you saw the Grateful Deads at
Oh Mom, don't you know this is the eighties?
Oh Mom, can't you relate to what the date is?
Mom's just a throw-back
To the sixties generation
All that junk like peace and love
Is just an aggravation
Ain't got no use for transcendental meditation
Mom, your universal love is such a drag
@catlynnearkin8825
I love Arlo Guthrie. Him and John Denver are my favorites. I grew up in the 60's .My sister who is 9 years older than me went to Woodstock. I can remember when she came home from College and was all hippie.Ilaughed as she gave my parents the peace sign. Thought mom was good to pass out. Hahaha! Each generation has it's own thing.
@MsLynnieJ
My mom raised me on Arlo. My 18th birthday present was taking me to see Arlo at The Wax Museum and buying me my first beer (it was the legal age then). Didn't stop me from going a little punk for awhile...but I kept my roots and followed Arlo (and the Grateful Dead) anyway. Arlo once put on a tie dye I made at a county fair in Virginia. I'm in my mid 40's and she in her early 60's now and we still go see Arlo every time he comes to VA. Sharing to facebook for Mom for mothers day.
@beckyevepete
I love this song & the video! I hadn't really thought about it until I read her comments but Arlo doesn't really break out laughing. He's usually telling us stories, making all of us crack up! So glad Jackie caught it on video for everyone. btw Abe did a great job. It was great fun to hear Arlo laugh. Jackie, you are missed!
@ejmilchak
Abe and I are the same age 39. He sure can play that guitar, reminds me of that little stint on Back to the Future. Great!
@ledder68
I saw Arlo do this song in Danbury, Connecticut earlier in the same tour. No appearance by Abe, but Arlo mentioned him. Doing Alice's Restaurant (reluctantly, something to do with draft registration) Arlo said he thought that video games were a military plot to discover fresh talent and worried because, he said, "my son is awfully good at video games."
@SandraLuX
¡¡¡Ja ja ja eso fue genial!!! ¡¡¡Verdaderamente buenísimo!!! XD ¡¡Y qué sorpresa para Arlo, sólo de ver su reacción...!!
@boomingpearl
wow ur son is cute ... nice jeans though... although they look exactly like arlos great son
@HermesTM
I saw Arlo with Shenandoah at a local college in the late '70s. That was one of my favorite shows of all time! Do you have anything from back then that shows off their great vocal harmonies? 'Ukulele Lady", maybe? Thanks for all these great clips!
@ledder68
That's the year (I think: it was '83 or '84) that I saw Arlo live in Danbury, CT. So, is that the little baby from the "Hobo's Lullabye" cover? Now he's on the keyboards, but he made a great phantom guitarist in 1984/
@TheTroublesIrishBand
♥