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.
Ring-Around-A-Rosy Rag
Arlo Guthrie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He went into the park and got busted
Doing the ring-a-round-a-rosy rag
Went in the park late at night
And he put a lot of people over eighty up tight
He was doing the ring-a-round-a-rosy rag
Ring around, ring around rose
Doing the ring-around-a-rosy rag
(It really was a drag)
Ring around, ring-around-a-rose
Touch your nose and blow your toes and mind
Doing the ring-around-a-rosy rag
We ought to send Officer Joe Strange
To some Australian mountain range
So we all can do the ring-around-a-rosy rag
Would you like to put Philadelphia up tight
One mass ring-around-a-rosy
In the middle of the night?
We all should do the ring-around-a-rosy rag
In Arlo Guthrie's song Ring-Around-A-Rosy Rag, the lyrics tell a story about a friend who went into the park and got arrested for doing the "ring-a-round-a-rosy rag," which seems to involve causing trouble for older people in some way. The song's lyrics are somewhat cryptic and leave the exact nature of this "ring-a-round-a-rosy rag" open to interpretation, but it seems to be a rebellious act of some sort, perhaps symbolic of a larger countercultural movement of the time.
The lyrics also express a desire to participate in this rebellion against authority, as evidenced by the suggestion that Officer Joe Strange should be sent away so that they can all join in. There is a sense of camaraderie and shared purpose in the lyrics, as if the singer and their friends are part of some larger community of people who are looking to question or disrupt the status quo in some way.
Overall, Ring-Around-A-Rosy Rag is a song that captures the energy and excitement of a particular moment in American history, when young people were questioning authority and looking for new and unconventional ways to express themselves. The song's lyrics are both playful and subversive, capturing the sense of mischief and rebellion that was at the heart of the countercultural movement.
Line by Line Meaning
Had a friend, a friend I could trust
Arlo had a trustworthy friend
He went into the park and got busted
Arlo's friend got caught by the police in the park
Doing the ring-a-round-a-rosy rag
Arlo's friend was engaging in a certain activity in the park
Went in the park late at night
Arlo's friend went to the park during the wee hours
And he put a lot of people over eighty up tight
Arlo's friend triggered a lot of older people
He was doing the ring-a-round-a-rosy rag
Arlo's friend was indulging in the same activity as specified earlier
Ring around, ring around rose
The start of a nursery rhyme
Touch your nose and blow your toes and mind
A nonsensical and imaginary directive for the rhyme causing mental confusion
Doing the ring-around-a-rosy rag
Referring to Arlo's friend's activity in the park
(It really was a drag)
The activity was quite unpleasant
We ought to send Officer Joe Strange
A suggestion to send a particular policeman somewhere
To some Australian mountain range
A specific location to send the cop
So we all can do the ring-around-a-rosy rag
A sarcastic remark, saying that sending the cop away would enable them to do the activity without fear of getting caught
Would you like to put Philadelphia up tight
Asking if one would like to engage in the activity with the police being aware
One mass ring-around-a-rosy
A large gathering of people engaging in the same activity
In the middle of the night?
At nighttime, when the activity would be less visible
We all should do the ring-around-a-rosy rag
Encouraging the listeners to participate in the activity
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: ARLO GUTHRIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Bob
What is represented by “ ring-around-a-rosy rag”? Is that a sexy act or a drug?