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

CHORUS
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

CHORUS

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

CHORUS

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

CHORUS

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

CHORUS