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Arlo Guthrie Quotes

Powerful Arlo Guthrie for Daily Growth

About Arlo Guthrie

Arlo Guthrie, born on July 10, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York, is an American folk singer-songwriter, author, and actor. He is the eldest son of folk music legend Woody Guthrie and Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, a professional dancer who was also disabled due to Huntington's Disease. This unique upbringing played a significant role in shaping Arlo's musical style and political consciousness. Growing up, Arlo spent time with Woody's musical peers such as Pete Seeger, Cisco Houston, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, who greatly influenced his music career. In 1965, while hitchhiking from New York to Massachusetts, Arlo found himself detained at the Stockbridge Police Station in Great Barrington due to an unpaid toll on a local bridge. This incident served as the inspiration for his most famous song, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree," a humorous 18-minute anti-war protest song that became a counterculture anthem. Arlo's debut album, "Alice's Restaurant," released in 1967, reached the top ten on the Billboard chart and earned him a devoted fanbase. His subsequent albums, including "Harlem County Blues" (1968) and "Running Down the Road" (1972), continued to blend satire, storytelling, and social commentary with folk music. In addition to his music career, Arlo has also acted in films such as "Alice's Restaurant" (1969), "The City Don't Cry" (1980), and the beloved holiday film "Garp and Us" (1982). Today, he continues to perform, advocate for environmental causes, and share the legacy of his father Woody Guthrie. Arlo Guthrie's unique blend of humor, activism, and folk music has made him a cherished figure in American popular culture.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"You can't say, 'Can I kiss you?' at a pharmacy counter."

This quote by Arlo Guthrie humorously underscores the incongruity between romantic or informal gestures and formal settings such as a pharmacy counter. It implies that certain social norms or expectations dictate that professional decorum should be maintained in such contexts, and personal or intimate gestures would be considered inappropriate or out of place.

"If it wasn't for Vietnam, I wouldn't be sitting here today."

The quote "If it wasn't for Vietnam, I wouldn't be sitting here today" implies that the speaker owes his current existence to the experience of the Vietnam War. It suggests that the war played a significant role in shaping his life and bringing him to where he is now. This could refer to personal growth, lessons learned, or even a physical survival scenario, emphasizing the profound impact that wars and conflicts can have on individuals and society as a whole.

"The future is pretty much the same as the past. The only thing that changes is the date."

This quote suggests a sense of continuity or sameness in human history and societal developments, with time being merely a progression of dates without substantial alteration in fundamental aspects of life. Essentially, it implies that while the calendar may change, the underlying patterns, challenges, and human experiences often persist across generations.

"I sing about the things that I see happening around me every day."

Arlo Guthrie's quote signifies his commitment to creating music rooted in real-life experiences and current events, reflecting societal happenings and everyday observations. His songs serve as a mirror to society, capturing the essence of the times in which they were written.

"One man's 'theatre' is another man's second-hand store."

This quote suggests that the perception and value of an object, in this case, a theater or a second-hand store, can vary greatly between individuals. What one person might view as a place of entertainment (theater) could be perceived as unwanted goods (second-hand store) by another. It's a reminder that our personal experiences, perspectives, and preferences shape the way we interact with and perceive the world around us.

We live in an increasingly sophisticated world that makes it difficult to make simple comments on stuff. There are too many people on both sides of the border who are taking advantage of circumstances and the situation.

- Arlo Guthrie

Both Sides, Increasingly, Sophisticated

Thank God that the people that run this world are not smart enough to keep running it forever. You know, everybody gets a handle on it for a little while.

- Arlo Guthrie

Enough, Run, Everybody, Handle

Everyone has a responsibility to not only tolerate another person's point of view, but also to accept it eagerly as a challenge to your own understanding. And express those challenges in terms of serving other people.

- Arlo Guthrie

Challenges, Other, Everyone, Eagerly

I don't want a pickle, just want to ride on my motorsickle.

- Arlo Guthrie

Ride, Want, Just, Pickle

At the same time the folk boom was happening, the civil rights movement was happening, the anti-war movement was happening, the ban the bomb movement was happening, the environmental movement was happening. There was suddenly a generation ready to change the course of history.

- Arlo Guthrie

Environmental, Generation, Anti-War

Music is a nice friend to have around, whether it is just for yourself or for other people. If you can enjoy it, being professional is almost secondary.

- Arlo Guthrie

Enjoy, Other, Almost, Secondary

I thought I would be governor of Massachusetts. I stood on a pile of my old albums and said, 'I'm the only one with a record to stand on.'

- Arlo Guthrie

Thought, Albums, Pile, Massachusetts

You get people talking about being worried about their art, and dances... their culture being wiped out or taken over, and yet these same people are taking advantage of their people to use them as cheap labour.

- Arlo Guthrie

Use, About, Wiped, Taking Advantage

Folk music is music that everyday people can play, and it inspired a lot of people to make their own music. That trailed into making your own pop music, and that's why garage bands started springing up everywhere.

- Arlo Guthrie

Play, Own, Springing, Everyday

My only description for me is that there's no throwaway people. That's the creed that I live by. It doesn't matter if I'm singing or not. That's the kind of person that my father and mother wanted me to be. The end obligation is to make people feel good about who they are.

- Arlo Guthrie

Father, About, Description, Creed

People were talking about songs of the common man in order to make the common man. With Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly, they were so common it was just uncommon.

- Arlo Guthrie

Talking, Belly, About, Woody

There are people all over the world who are willing to exploit others. You can't just point the finger at America.

- Arlo Guthrie

Over, Finger, Willing, Exploit

I'm not just a singer-songwriter doing songs in the key of me.

- Arlo Guthrie

Me, Doing, Songs, Singer-Songwriter

My mother had introduced me to a lot of my father's friends because she believed that I would get to know the guy my dad was better through his friends than just in the hospital visits.

- Arlo Guthrie

Father, Through, Dad, Believed

Probably my two biggest musical influences were the Everly Brothers and the Beatles, in chronological order. Both of them have had a very simple-sounding musical style that's actually quite complex as far as popular songs are concerned.

- Arlo Guthrie

Concerned, Brothers, Very, As Far As

Greed and globalization aren't just America's fault.

- Arlo Guthrie

Greed, Fault, Just, Globalization

I've written quite a variety of songs, everything from kids songs to political satire, and my dad covered a fairly large range, also.

- Arlo Guthrie

Large, Dad, Fairly, Covered

Yes, I was born in Coney Island. The Holy Land.

- Arlo Guthrie

Island, Yes, Holy, Holy Land

I think of my parents as a single unit, and it's interesting because they shared so much, and they were totally opposite. My mother, a Martha Graham dancer, had a classical background; my father had a back-porch background.

- Arlo Guthrie

I Think, Shared, Martha, Graham

If you do anything for 40 years, you can do it comfortably. And it will always be good. But unless you're willing to risk it being bad, it can never be great.

- Arlo Guthrie

Bad, Will, Always, Comfortably

Along with a sense of humor, my songs have to be sincere, and they have to be sung from a position of inner conviction.

- Arlo Guthrie

Humor, Sense Of Humor, Along, Sung

Building walls isn't going to work in the long run. Some people are happy with the wall in Israel, but somebody will get a weapon someday and knock it over or something. Walls aren't the answer between countries, though.

- Arlo Guthrie

Happy, Some, Knock, Wall

But think of the last guy. For one minute, think of the last guy. Nobody's got it worse than that guy. Nobody in the whole world.

- Arlo Guthrie

World, Think, Last, One Minute

Everywhere I go, I see all kinds of people at my shows - conservatives, liberals, new-agers, teen-agers, old pensioners. And for those people to have something in common is real interesting to me.

- Arlo Guthrie

Interesting, Go, Old, Everywhere

I don't do anything on stage that allows me to become a trained seal, where you're just doing the same thing over and over.

- Arlo Guthrie

Doing, Over, Trained, Seal

With the advent of radio and recording, music became an industry rather than just a tradition.

- Arlo Guthrie

Music, Rather, Became, Tradition

Basically, I think you need two things to get by in this world: a sense of humor and the ability to laugh when your ego is destroyed.

- Arlo Guthrie

Think, Need, I Think, Ego

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in.

- Arlo Guthrie

Light, Dark, You, Stick

The death of what's dead is the birth of what's living.

- Arlo Guthrie

Death, Dead, Living, Birth

I left the entertainment industry part of my life behind in 1983, when we decided not to work with major record companies anymore.

- Arlo Guthrie

Work, My Life, Behind, Record Companies

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