Added: 4 years ago
From: jguth3
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  • My hair is almost as beautiful as his.

  • This song stil sends chills up my back . . love it.

  • Excellent song, but I also have to give credit to that hair!

  • What a great Song! Tears don´t lie!

  • Only poet could transform a passenger train that exists today into railroad legend. The Illinois Central's mainline between Chicago and New Orleans is home to the City of New Orleans, and whether Amrak pulls the cars Arlo wrote about, or not, this song will join its place in the annals of songwriting history.

  • @MagnoliaLoon AMEN!

  • I have run thousands of miles over the road, listening to this song. One mile at a time, it never got old. God Bless Arlo and those like him, who keep us awake the countless miles we drive........across our country.

  • Written by my little friend Steve Goodman. Steve once said about Arlo doing the song is that it saved his ass. Finances were tight when the song came out. Arlo did Steve good.

  • Very good 

  • Comment removed

  • 5 people missed the train in new orleans

  • @12wsatye TOTALLY !!!

    :-))

  • I thought I would get me two cents in on Woody's son as well. "City of New Orleans" written by his father, Woody Guthrie. I pounded a few shots with Arlo & Leon Russell in Sandpont, ID in 1996. My! We are all getting older. Share the music with your kids. It is timeless.

  • @mudpuppy43 This song was written by the late, great Steve Goodman.

  • @mudpuppy43 I believe the song was written by Steve Goodman. Woody wrote many great songs,but this one was not one of them. R.I.P Steve Goodman

  • @mudpuppy43 Steve Goodman.

  • Beautiful song from the times when the world was still good. Brings back a lot of memories.....

  • arlo guthrie makes my heart swell. I listened to this song hundreds of times when i was a baby... this brings back the memories. i love his music. i love his melodies. magnificent doesnt begin to describe him.

  • 0:02 and then he goes on to give this long ass intro...

  • @504Anon 30 seconds is hardly long. I feel he deserves it.

  • This song for me comes very close to being a masterpeice. It's a perfect combination

    of words and music. When you listen to it your actually there in those great lyrics.

    Like being in movie, I can't really explain it. It's great music.

  • Grat Mr. Arlo Guthrie !

  • What I love about Arlo's hair is its much longer than it was at woodstock. How can you not love that? Not only is it still long but its longer.

  • love this song.... seeing how the big easy is where i grew up....

  • i always go to see arlo when he's in town. i'am 62, my daughter is 40. a few years back we went to see him and after the show we went up to the stage to see him and get autographs. my daughter immediately started touching his hair, everyone their "gulped" and "gasps" i told arlo she was harmless. he was cool. she said his hair is very soft. but i did die when i noticed her hand on his lower thigh.

  • @windymeadows2 I was just thinking how nice Arlo's hair looked and then I read your comment, which made me smile. Thank you.

  • i always go to see arlo when he's in town. i'am 62, my daughter is 40. a few years back we went to see him and after the show we went up to the stage to see him and get autographs. my daughter immediately started touching his hair, everyone their "gulped" and "gasps" i told arlo she was harmless. he was cool. she said his hair is very soft.

  • I love you Arlo

    

  • went to work in germany in 1977, ended up living in dachau in 1980 and used a pub/gasthoff called harry's pills bar on untermenschinger strasse where the resident band used to play this. Maybe you will see this posting phips and guiesella riesz and remeber those dayd

  • look at his amazing hair of justice

  • I feel like if I don't watch this video now it will be gone tomorrow....

  • This song makes me cry for things lost forever.

  • truly needs almost no introduction...classic double-speak

  • Sounds like he likes Democrats better...

  • well, i am glad to hear arlo is sensible enough to be a republican...and i will not comment on NPR...not worth writing about.

  • @dolcanes1

    I don't really know what you mean, but if it's about politics, go away. This is about music.

  • well, good to hear that arlo is sensible enough to be a republican! and i will not comment on NPR...

  • He told the New York Times Magazine that he is a Republican because, "We had enough good Democrats. We needed a few more good Republicans. Maybe he'll come to his senses after the Republicans destroy high speed rail in this country, and NPR, the only radio stations that still play his music.

  • He told the New York Times Magazine that he is a Republican because, "We had enough good Democrats. We needed a few more good Republicans. Maybe he'll come to his senses after the Republicans destroy high speed rail in this country, and NPR, the only radio stations that still play his music.

  • I have Hobo's Lullaby and Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys- Teaching my 18 yr old about real American music. American Folk music is lost on kids today. He wants to live like a "hippie". If he doesn't know Arlo's music, he'd be, as they say, "a poser". Timeless music

  • Good Night America..... a melancholy tribute to what this country used to be.

    A beautiful song.

  • A French version, Arlo Guthrie City Of New Orleans is sung by, Joe Dassin Salut Les Amoureux ". Both works are very beautiful and I love her Yves from Schongau ,Bavaria,Germany

  • True , magnificent , real

  • Its old white people from Boston - of course they are subdued - its a lifestyle.

  • Beautiful is an understatement.

    Soul shatteringly magnificent ?

  • Beautiful

  • Is that crowd subdued enough or what? He should have done Alice's Restaurant

  • wow this is great... What happened??

  • saw him nov, 2010 in nyc... great show!

  • Quiet audience, not all Arlo fans or Woody fans, but what a treat to see the closeups of Arlo actually playing this song on an accoustic piano.

  • aged like a fine wine!!!!

  • Lotta ole' farts in the audience. Patrons an' matrons.

  • Arlo is great ....love the way the Dutchman does it also.....

  • dont forget this guy endorsed Ron Paul for President. What a smart man.

    Peace to you all.

  • I remember when people worried he would inherit his father's Huntington's. So good to see him a gray haired man.

  • He really doesn't look right in a Tux. But you gotta love Arlo just the same! Thank you Steve Goodman for letting Arlo borrow your song for the rest of us to enjoy.

  • Awesome``thank you again``

  • I'll be performing with him on the 27th at Carnegie Hall!

  • @somepianist  NICE FOR SOMEONE TO MENTION THE MAN BEHIND THIS SONG.....STEVE GOODMAN

  • Great music... Arlo sounds today just like he used to in the late 60's, however the audience looks completely numb. Gosh, what was this? The AARP annual dinner???

  • @lotavio69 You need to remember most of the "hippies" were born in the 40s and 50s and most of us HAVE retired. lol It takes a lot to get us excited now but OBAMA has our attention and our ire. Growing old is not for pussies!!!

  • I am so proud that Arlos grandma and I share a name.

  • Pure, beautiful genius - with a sense of humour.;

  • Arlo is awesome-I also have seen him live a couple of times and would gladly go again. Anybody know "Inch by Inch", or "Drowning Man"? Great stuff. And I also love his hair!

  • Arlo is a folk legend - love this song

  • YEA BUT LETS NOT FORGET WHO PUT HIM ON STAGE MR STEVE GOODMAN

  • GREAT!!! as usual!!!~!

  • I've had the honor of attending two of Arlo's concerts. Both were extremely entertaining. An extremely talented performer and story-teller. His daughter and her husband are incredibly talented, too.

  • I love Arlo!

  • He sounds like Dylan before Dylan became unintelligeble,,,

  • Arlo breathes genius, almost as much as he breathes goodwill and generosity. Although I have never met him, Mr. Guthrie has - unknowingly - made my life a better one. And in doing so, he has made me a better man.

  • @garcemac Amen

  • @MusicallyDetermined

    He's such a pure man, yet not naive. He fights for truth and beauty. IF I make it to heaven, my angels will sing like James Taylor, Arlo Guthrie, and a young Lyle Lovett.

    Nothing to do with religion, but - musically - their hearts are pure.

  • @garcemac

    I remember this song from when I was a little kid. I'm 48 now. I learned a lot of Arlo, and now my kids - a 19 year old boy and a 22 year old girl - love his music.

    Almost more than the fact that they're in college, I appreciate that they good, honest, music. Its a bond we'll always have.

  • I didn't wanna wear this either ...LOL

  • one of the greatest songs ever written and on of my favorite songs u go arlo and i'm from otis

  • the GREATEST tribute to Steve Goodman known he had the heart to sing it right and not change the words

  • Arlo from what I understand almost didn't get this song...he was being pressured by Steve Goodman to listen to it, and Arlo said OK only for a minute and only if Stevie Bought him a beer...

  • No one can sing this like Arlo!!!!

  • KING

  • o.k.

  • Arlo is wonderful!!!

  • Great Song!

  • sent this one to marianne

  • One of my all time favorite songs - by the beloved Arlo Guthrie! Gorgeous!!

  • @MaryAnn95010

    It's Steve Goodman's song, not Arlo's. Arlo did the commercially successful cover of it, but that's Chicago Shorty's song fer shur!

  • He's still cute.

  • Didn't any of those stuffy old people know the words?

  • There is a great version of this by Ian Bruce and Stewart Hardy on youtube too. Put ianmbruce1 in the search box

  • Woodstock to Boston Pops

  • Fantastic showmanship.

  • Does it really matter if someone took an old song and made it his own for money?...lots of music has been used for gain ...theres nothing today that hasn't been in the past....just think how many songs have beethovan/mozart...et al...licks in it...why not jusst enjoy the msuic????.

  • Interesting how many people have snarky opinions not based on easy-to-check facts. See the opening credits to this clip to see Goodman credited as songwriter, something Arlo Guthrie has often acknowledged in performances I've seen.

    I saw Steve Goodman perform this song in 1972 at the Earl of Old Town, the same year Guthrie had a hit with it, and I can tell you, Goodman was totally thrilled. His royalty checks from Guthrie's recording finally allowed him to become a full time musician.

  • @MrOpenD Didn't know Arlo played ever at the Earl's...I do recall the night he walked across the street from a greasy spoon restaurant said hi to those of us standing in line to get into the Quiet Knight...started the intro to CofNO and everyone clapped...he jokingly said, "Wait...you don't know what I'm gonna sing...people did that when they voted for Nixon!" That brought the croud down ...then said he wished he had written the song, intro'd Steve Goodman, and played the song with him.

  • Some of the audience have a serious "stick up their butts" problem. Just like in the sixties.

  • Arlo, like fine wine....better with age. Awesome video. Thanks for posting.

  • @zephrah, i am with you --- great- Absolutely !

  • If anyone ever made a living off other peoples hard work, this guy did it.

  • @alienhuman ???  If that were the case would he not just live on the auld fellows royalties.

    5 star from me.

  • @alienhuman Interesting comment. Can you elaborate? I've always felt like mainstream folk musicians were doing exactly this...copying real folk music and monetizing it for their own profit.

  • @OysterLava Agreed Lava. IMO, the difference is Goodman was a contemporary of AG. Real folk music was often just handed down and repetition made it popular in a non copyright world. In this case, AG has made a living allowing audiences to suspect he is the author. Just one guys opinion. ps. mel... I don't follow your question.

  • @OysterLava What an idiotic statement.

  • sad that none of the people at the concert sing along or even know the words or tune for that matter

  • The City Of New Orleans Hopes BP stops the oil spill soon...

  • Watching him play this song on piano is amazing! I play guitar and piano, and I would never have pegged this song as sounding good on piano. He's a great musician and an excellent showman! (And @judyview, completely agree about the hair, lol).

  • @beatlebugger Try it on piano. I ain't no Arlo on piano or vocals, but it sounds good and it's fun. Just let that left hand sound like a train and you got it made.

  • I heart Arlo & Keith Lockheart! A good treat for sure.

  • He can thank the Almighty for Woody.  Without him just another noisy nerd.

  • still love you arlo after 40 years

  • cheers for Arlo!!

  • I shared some KILLER weed backstage with Arlo, he's pretty spacey.

  • that is amazing he has kept his unique voice. yeah for our friend Arlo*********

  • March 31, 2010

    Austin, Texas

    Front row. Center. In the pit.

    ~ Norris (just an old hippie)

  • Love how he plays the piano. Almost makes me want to really practice the piano myself.

  • He is more than just a Flokslinger.

  • Love his HAIR!

  • @judyview It's beautiful and so is this great song!

  • @judyview LOL When he was younger he had a "Jewfro"

  • @judyview Beautiful!

  • Comment removed

  • Get his Live from Sidney CD Arlo explains how he got the song.. Besides that Live from Sidney is an INCREDIBLE CD.

    Every one should have it.

  • City of New Orleans is a folk song written by Steve Goodman, describing a train ride from Chicago to New Orleans in bittersweet and nostalgic terms. Goodman got the idea while traveling on the train of that name for a visit to his wife's family. He performed the song for Arlo Guthrie in the Quiet Knight, a bar in Chicago, and Guthrie agreed to add it to his repertoire.

  • Steve Bought Arlo a Beer and sang his song for Arlo

  • And the rest, as they say, is history. Arlo made this song a classic; should be among the top 25 songs of all time.

  • YOU are an ASS HOLE!! Arlo rocks

  • Steve Goodman wrote the song

  • @YankeeFromMaine Goodman wrote it. Johnny Cash turned it down. Look it up before asserting nonsense.

  • Every time I hear the lyrics it runs shivers up my back. "...their father's magic carpet made of steel, ...the steel rails still ain't heard the news... WHO WROTE THAT??

    CARL SANDBURG??? It sure has his poetic color and spirit.Ron in Ohio

  • @bp45424 I forget, but I wasn't Sandburg. "And all the towns that people see, fade into their bad dreams..." That parts still makes me choke up and cry. The great passenger trains are all gone, replaced by that dud Amtrac.

  • Steve Goodman

  • arlo is the mannn

  • god how frozen .arlo is a candle set in your freezer.i would have stunk and not have ate for three days in bethel before i would see him in a crypt like that ..man.

  • One cool bro.

  • if you're going to thank anyone jack, thank the late great steve goodman.....

  • Im only 30 and wish I could still grow hair like that;

  • shoot, I'm only 23 and I wish I could grow my hair like that. Great music though, hair or no hair. Did sound for John Mceuen at Dosey Doe in the Woodlands TX (shameless plug, I know), would LOVE it if this guy came to my place of work (the Dosey Doe... By the way, it's about a mile south of Olive Garden going southbound on I-45). Oh! John Mceuen IS coming back... so is Monte Montgomer, Al Di Meola, The Mighty Orq, Guy Forsythe and many more... I should stop... I'm only the osund tech

  • Thanks, Arlo for the tune!

  • Arlo, thanks for the great music. Love your hair.  God bless you & your family. Hope to see you in person one day.

  • God bless ya Arlo!

  • No words explain this genetic talent from father to son. WOW!

  • He sings better now than he did 30 years ago - crazy hair though.

  • Arlo -- great as always!

  • God, I live just outside Boston, I wish I could have been there.

  • Very nicely done Arlo!

  • first heard this song when i was in third grade and loved it!!

  • I dont mean to sound gay, but that was a beutiful performance.

  • You don't have to be gay to appreciate good music dumbass.

  • dude ! he sounds the same. thats sick man. an i bet half the people in there saw him at woodstock

  • Truly a living icon. I can remember listening to this song as a young man. Brings back many good memories. Thanks for the post!

  • This isn't Arlo's best version--he has done this much better. Oh well, he is in the high rent district this evening I guess.

  • I have only ever heard the willie nelson version and this one I like the willie version better.

  • Um, it was written by Steve Goodman, but he loved all the covers cuz it brought in money.

  • a living icon

  • life music now also at tupperware meetings ?

  • Life?! Want to try again? Gommennasaisosorrycouldnthelpm­yself.

  • woody guthrie / pete seeger/ arlo/ the weavers in the great folk tradition--- "willie the best" misses the point----

  • this one is best willies is ok too

  • I love this. Never heard Willie Nelson version. I can listen to this over and over!

  • Good, but I like Willie Nelson's version the best

  • Still great afte rall these years. Thank you

  • Arlo Guthrie in a Tux.

    Woody must be rolling.

  • Still have memories of Guthrie and Seger playing at Wolftrap in 79. Great evening! But darned if I can remember if he sang this!

  • when i was in the navy stationed at groton/new london, ct. during the late 80's i have this song played over and over in my boombox with my buddies drinking and partying all night long in my apartment right outside the base. we have to keep playing it over and over to catch and write the lyrics as we sang along. great melody and dead-on lyrics. awesome memories. thanks for uploading.

  • We did the same thing in the early 70's :)

    From the depths we rule! SSN 584!

  • What a great tune after all these years !

  • YES!

  • His father could be proud.

  • My all time favorite song by my favorite artist. Thanks for coming out West, enjoyed your Livermore show.

  • America still has decent artists. Arlo great!

  • Great to see you looking so great. I LOVE the hair. I still have mine too. Keep on trucking man.

  • Arlo good to see you. Keep on keeping the faith Bud.

  • Best american song ever. Thank you.