Arlo Guthrie

I have many, many posts about Huntington’s Disease and all of the fundraisers I am involved with. I rarely post about my mom, who is the reason I am involved in all of this.
On Tuesday night my dad and I went to the “Guthrie Family Rides Again” concert featuring Arlo Guthrie and his family. Sitting at the Barrymore Theatre with my dad, I was flooded with wonderful memories.

I was raised on folk music. Arlo and Woody, Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Weavers, Lead Belly… the list goes on and on. My mom, dad, and I would regularly go to these concerts in Madison. As my parents would sing their hearts out, I would eventually fall asleep on my dad’s shoulder. During car trips, my mom would make sure my dad played Arlo and Pete Seeger and would sing sing sing on the entire drive. We had regular family sing-alongs to Woody Guthrie songs around the computer my dad programmed to play his music. The three of us are all terrible singers, but it wasn’t the quality of the tune, but the meaning of the words and time spent with the family. Even when my mom could barely speak, she would still try her hardest to sing along to her folk music.

We didn’t just go to the concerts. When my mom was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease, her and my dad decided they would do all they could to live life to the fullest. In 1991 the three of us went on Arlo’s Blunderite adventure to Israel and Egypt. Despite her illness, my mom climbed mountains, rode camels, and hiked into tombs.
Two years later we joined the Blunderites and Arlo on the Delta Queen all the way down the Mississippi River. At this point eating was such a chore for my mom she spent most of her day in the dining hall eating. Her special moment on that trip was getting to sit in the front row for Arlo’s concert. We even had the wonderful experience of riding the “City of New Orleans” after the steamboat trip.

My favorite Arlo memory? After one of his concerts at the Barrymore (my mom was quite sick at this point) we went back to his trailer after the concert for an autograph. She was very unsteady and my dad and I had to hold her up. When it was our turn she said “Hi Arlo. I have the disease your dad died of.” She walked up to him and he grabbed her and hugged her. I don’t think she stopped smiling for a week!

The concert on Tuesday night was bitter sweet. This was the first time we’ve seen Arlo in performance without my mom. Tears flowed as I listened to our family’s favorite songs without my mom being able to sit with us and sing along. Then Arlo sang this song by his father Woody and I really lost it:

I Hear You Sing Again - Woody Guthrie

If I could only hear my mother sing again
If I could close my eyes and hear your voice as then
All the friends and family
would sing along with me,
and set your spirit free
In my heart I hear you sing again
Every note as natural as then
and when I sing those songs
for family and friends,
in my heart I hear you sing again

I know the troubled times that turned your hair to grey
And all the tears and sorrows followed to your grave
But deep within the heart of hunger,
there were always melodies
passed from you and me

In my heart I hear you sing again
Every note as natural as then
and when I sing those songs
for family and friends,
in my heart I hear you sing again

And it's a long, long road I've come
since my mother's songs were heard
But the child I can't outrun
still hangs on every word

In my heart I hear you sing again
Every note as natural as then
and when I sing those songs
for family and friends,
in my heart I hear you sing again
In my heart I hear your voice again

Thank you for all of the great memories Arlo. I wish I could hear my mom sing again.