words and music by Arlo Guthrie



I went down to the grocery store

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



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Deedle lee dum, deedle lee dum

Deedle lee dum de dum dum



Well I let the kids loose on the floor

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



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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



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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



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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



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