Wow, that's a quick response! Great! It's not every day you can get first hand information on something like this... A film student's dream!

There are two scenes in the club in which Arlo plays a verse from a song. The first is a verse from 'I'm going home', but with different lyrics. The second is the mysterious 'Wanna ball you right now rag' (poetic masterpiece).

A few burning questions:
- 'I'm going home' probably was a familiar song to a large part of the audience. Why did you sing different lyrics to it in the film?
- To what degree were these club scenes scripted? Did you and Penn discuss what songs you were gonna play, or did you improvise?
- What was the purpose of these scenes? Were they meant to create a link between the character Arlo and the 'real' Arlo? (was there are a big difference between the two?) Did Penn discuss his intentions with you?

It would be great if you could give me some answers, so I can sleep again tonight...

Thanks for the info on the song title ADG! Do you happen to know the title of the song about my hand to the water gone forever from the land, it will soon add to the sand I'm going home, which you did in the movie????

Hi Harmke!

Just some background information. Folk music traditionally was learned by listening to someone else. People didn't write stuff down. Pete Seeger calls this the Folk Process. Words aren't the same because people sing what they think they heard (or should have heard). Someone hears a melody and decides to use their own words or likes the words and uses a different melody. Then someone taps you on the shoulder and says "go play something". Chords get strummed. Words get sung. Hey, even neophytes like me will sit around and strum "background music" as opposed to turning some machine on when guests come to visit. (Never can find the right stuff on radio it seems.)

kurt...

Thanks, Kurt, for you information. I'm familiar with the basics of folk music and its improvisational character. In film, on the other hand, music is always carefully chosen! No song ever ends up in a movie without a reason or without giving a scene a different meaning.

In Alice's Restaurant, these two factors come together! You have Arlo writing songs on the spot and you have Arthur Penn trying to make a coherent and meaningful movie!

Therefore, what I'd like to know is: did Penn tap Arlo on the shoulder and say 'go play something'? (which could be the case if he wanted to make it look spontaneous and real) Or is there a specific reason why he played just THAT song in THAT scene?

Thanks for the info Arlodoodles!(adg).....I understand that it is extremely hard to remember events that happened in the past and sometimes present Take me for example, at work I have to wear a name tag and I forget my name all of the time because I am proud to be blonde ....Anyhow on the Alice's movie soundtrack I noticed one instrumental song entitled "Crash Pad Improvs" with the same melody as "Gabriel's Mother's Hiway Ballad #16 Blues" I do not recall hearing "Crash Pad" in the movie. The only song I heard relating to crash pads was in the scene where Roger came to visit Arlo at college and those two were playing guitars and kazoo to "Cafe Harris Rag" just before Arlo asked "What funny smell?".....Correct me if I am wrong was "Crash Pads" played in the movie? Anybody or the almighty master himself know?...Was I smelling something funny through the TV?

Peace

Crash pad is where I'm walking thru and the young girl thinks I'll be a record someday.

:)

OH!!!... Holy banana farts apeman!...Then I was smelling something funny!!
Thru the kind words of wisdom of Ace Ventura "ALRIGHTY THEN!"

Gawd...I have got to get my hands on that movie again...I rented it once, but I have a hankering to see it again.


Best part of the movie IMNSHO-- The shrink's office

i'd never thought of it in specifics before (cuz i'm jes' a little bit loony) but as it turns out my favorite parts of the movie all revolve around the song, specifically

a-course there's officer obie being offered the esoteric "eat me" cake saying something like, "i suppose so, i'll never tell..." now what in the world does that mean (jes' a rhetorical thought)

she was right! but....she didn't know that you would also someday be an eight track tape, a cassette, a CD and a download on an IPOD.

ADG, I think you'd look pretty funny as a record. :^)

Arlo could get pretty dizzy spinning around on a turntable and possibly get stuck in a tape player, CD player and an Mp3 player
Hey! All of these intellectual ideas for a totally marvelous plot for future science fiction motion picture entitled "The Incredible Shrinking Musician" or "Honey I Shrunk the Folkslinger"


Peace

I bet that was your favorite part in the movie huh Arlo?

My favorite part was the cast party - ending the filming. :)

adg

Sounds like quite a party hon! Thanks for writing on here. We love you & hope you are doing well...