The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #164871   Message #3951197
Posted By: Joe Offer
17-Sep-18 - 02:15 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Alternate lyrics to Arlo Guthrie piece
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Alternate lyrics to Arlo Guthrie piece
Well, here's a rather delightful recording by Per Juul:

As for the Arlo Guthrie song, I can't imagine it's anything but original, but I think he meant it to sound familiar. Wikipedia calls it "a protracted spoken monologue, with a constantly repeated fingerstyle ragtime guitar (Piedmont style) backing and light brush-on-snare drum percussion (the drummer on the record is uncredited), bookended by a short chorus about the titular diner." Arlo regularly changed the narrative, but it was more-or-less the same story every time.

To me, the chorus sounds like an advertising jingle one might hear on a small-town radio station, and it has a very nice touch of familiarity. I can imagine the jingle including an old-style telephone number, KEnwood 2-6868, or the like. And of course, you only have to dial the five digits.

-Joe-