Tom T. Hall - Pay No Attention To Alice Lyrics






[Chorus:]
Pay no attention to Alice, she's drunk all the time, hooked on that wine, bunches of it,
And it ruined her mind.
Pay no attention to Alice, they say she's a sot, sane she is not, but she loves it,
And it's all she's got.

She made that apple pie from a memory,
Made them biscuits from a recollection that she had.
She cooked that chicken too long but she don't know that,
Oh what the hell, it ain't too bad.

[Chorus]

Don't talk about the war, I was a coward,
Talk about fishing and all the good times raisin' hell.
Empty that one down, we'll get another one,
It's getting late, you might as well.

Though we ram your car into a ditch, man don't sweat it,
I know Ben down at the shell station and he'll get it out.
Alice, put your ashes in that ashtray, I swear woman,
you're gonna burn down the house.

Pay no attention to Alice, she's drunk all the time...





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Tom T. Hall Pay No Attention To Alice Comments
  1. h.... ....

    Wonderful video to accompany a truly magnificent song.

  2. B.... W....

    Tom T's greatness is so dang unassuming. GREAT SONG

  3. T.... B....

    Saddest song ever about the cruelty of alcoholism. Unfortunately there are many Alices in this world.

  4. b.... s....

    Hits home to me. My image of an alcoholic is a woman not a wino in a dirty raincoat. Thank you for all your story telling.

  5. J.... S....

    If she can recollect how to wash dishes,do laundry,and push a vacuum,Ill take her

  6. d.... c....

    I here the music sounds like Tracy Lawrence --- Time Marches On.

  7. R.... ....

    Wow, I read through some of the comments. It amazes me how people try to pick it apart and understand it's meaning.
    About 1972, I was around 8 yrs old. We were stationed in Baumholder, Germany. I remember my Dad got the album at the PX and played it on his console stereo. Told my Mom, " This song is for you"....My Mom drank with him but neither we're alcoholic. They had other couples that came over on a Friday/Saturday night. Cards, drinks, always country music on the stereo. It was a different time and a much different generation. A simpler time. Domestic vilance was more so in the home...and times change. Like has been posted, each of us interprets differently.
    Personally, for years I felt the song was a poke fun at Alice but as I grow older and remember my own past, everyone drank.....

  8. w.... k....

    Don't talk about the war, I was a coward...

  9. T.... W....

    I just cant say anything. oh my god.

  10. L.... D....

    I'm liken Tom T and Donald J wish um both the best.

  11. m.... r....

    tom t hall...legend! massive legend!

  12. J.... M....

    We all need an Alice. God bless you girl. Tom T nails life again.

  13. L.... M....

    Life is not as illustrated.

  14. J.... C....

    eric thanks you have a good grasp of the obvious

  15. W.... M....

    She's going to burn down the house

  16. J.... D....

    Came here for  Pay No Attention To Alice, was amazed at the add just chilling

  17. T.... W....

    Man this is my life. From 6yrs to now

  18. F.... H....

    Back when people wrote songs.

  19. L.... A....

    Tom T had an amazing memory. I saw him perform once at the Smithsonian in DC, He sang the Clayton Delaney song, and mentioned that the place Delaney played at was near New Paris, Ohio. I grew up very close to there and talked my way backstage after the show to talk to him. I asked him if he remembered the name of the bar. Tom T thought for a few seconds, ignored my incorrect suggestions, and pulled the name "Buckeye Gardens" from his memory. There had indeed been a place by that name near New Paris. Must have been a rough place since I knew a kid whose father had tended bar there and had his throat cut there one night and died. Tom T remembered the name of that place over 30 years later.

    L.... A....

    jeez, thanks for the memories.

  20. C.... ....

    This song is kind of hard to take when you actually listen to the lyrics. It's depressing. A wife turns to alcoholism after her alcoholic husband disappoints her.

    C.... ....

    life is good with my woman sam i gotta go i am wasting cassette tape i am sams new man tonight is your own bad night for treating my woman the way you d for make my sam cry you should be ashamed of yourself

  21. j.... b....

    cannot stop singing it just heard it.... ah the true story teller, God bless

  22. D.... L....

    he.said it best.bout the old grey .black gentleman .he is the kindest .niest man I ever met in my life

  23. D.... K....

    Pay no attention to Aliice. Just love her, remember her. Love this song.

  24. j.... ....

    My heart breaks for Alice.

  25. w.... k....

    Huh. Who writes like this?

    w.... k....

    A song writing genius!

  26. k.... ....

    This song made me cry - the tears just rolled down my cheeks.

    k.... ....

    i care kevin you werent a coward

    k.... ....

    Me to it made me think of my sister Gay Lynn...

  27. R.... N....

    HOW THE HELL CAN I GET AUDIO ON MY DESKTOP?

    R.... N....

    lappy top now brand new threw that old huk of junk out when i urned it out i also han a good i pod gen 8 neither one for sale and

  28. r.... s....

    Tom gets it right with all his music by keeping it simple telling us a story of every day life a man of rare talent   

  29. J.... d....

    Yes there it is , it's just a ( great ) song

  30. J.... d....

    Great storyteller , and great song to

  31. B.... B....

    Compassion is what I hear from Tom T. Hall.

  32. d.... f....

    1st time I heard this song quite the good song.

  33. C.... ....

    Someone has already implied this, but T is absolutely the most fearless songwriter I've ever known or been aware of.  I have written with him and saw early on that he doesn't have this little critical voice whispering in his ear that has kept many a song from being written.  Sometimes I think all it takes to be a songwriter is just being able to make that irritating voice just shut up.  But it won't.  It's right there telling you that the rhyme isn't close enough, that the song sounds too worked over, that the first two lines are too weak, that the title is too long, that the idea is overused . . . it just won't hush.  T just gets in down on a piece of paper, throws it at you and says "There it is; it's just a song. Not to be compared with any other song just as a novel is not to be compared with another novel.  It's its own thing and it's finished because I said so." 

    C.... ....

    @Jay Motensen Ha, didn't mean to be insulting, I see your name may be Carol, no offense intended. No editing of comments on this format. Apologies.

    C.... ....

    @Jay Motensen I know what it's like to be insulted on this medium and rest assured, were I a female your statement does not begin to rise to the level of an insult.  But I'm not.  Here's a hint should you encounter a similar situation - which you most assuredly will not:  Latin names ending in "us" are male; names ending in "ia" are female and generally are a derivative of the father's name.  For example Julius Caesar's daughter was named Julia.  In Roman times my daughter would be named Carolia.  Actually Ceasar's name would be spelled ILIVS and his daughter would be spelled IVLIA.  There were no Js and Us in the Latin language.  Now that I've written a mini-treatise I'll thank you for your kind words. I'll pass them along to T.  He hears about his songs all the time but I sense that he truly wanted to be an author of books so he'll appreciate this.

    C.... ....

    Great comment, I'm going start using the phrase, "It's it's own thing and it's finished because I said so", on all my own songwriting.

    C.... ....

    I like your comment. it makes me feel better about the songs I've written.

  34. h.... ....

    Love you Tom, made me cry again.

  35. E.... F....

    The song is not about Alice having a problem. It is his war buddy with the problem, Tom, brilliantly tells the story in first person and the empathy flows...can't you just see his eyes meet Alice's and how awkward it may have been...(obvious)-Brilliant song!

    E.... F....

    +mouse man actually alice has a drinkin' problem but her issue is her husband... so the song is clearly about him and not her... the quote "don't talk about the war, I was a coward" clearly didn't mean he was a coward in war but he felt like a coward because he left his wife at home and let her become an alcoholic and the fact he justified all she did (good or bad) let us understand he felt guilty... I agree with you he's really talkin' about her as a person with an addiction she can't fight but the song goes deeper than talkin' about a person with an alcohol addiction

    E.... F....

    +Eric Freeman never realised that ..., wow now the man was something, sorry is something, kudos

    E.... F....

    Yes, Its definitely about the irony of marginalizing someone else due to that person's problems while at the same time ignoring your own. This song has its own chauvinistic twist to that irony.However, the men are drinking heavily too and even though the car goes into the ditch they don't recognize it as a problem. And male short comings, such as lack of bravery are swept under the rug.

    E.... F....

    Hippies. They know it all. He was there when Tom wrote it.

    E.... F....

    Steven Spolar well spoken

  36. F.... R....

    I love Tom. T Hall

  37. j.... l....

    Thanks for upload AND BIG THANKS FOR ALL COMMENTS on this page. From France : Jo Luttringer

  38. M.... H....

    His lyrics is the best!

  39. H.... H....

    TomT.Hall and Bobby Bare have been friends for years, TomT wrote songs 
    Bare made famous I think the world of both of them.

    H.... H....

    @Harvey Hyland Which songs of Tom T's did Bare do?  I don't recall a hit that Bare had on any Tom T song..

    H.... H....

    +mouse man - Bare had a hit with "Margie's At The Lincoln Park Inn" that peaked at #4 on Billboard in 1969 and "That's How I Got To Memphis" that made it to #4 on the Billboard charts.

    H.... H....

    @Steven Spolar Didn't know about "Margie's", but I just forgot about "That's How I Got to Memphis"...  Thanks for shaking my brain.
    Mouse Man 

  40. J.... H....

    one of the best and underrated country stars of all time

    J.... H....

    he is under rated? where have you been?

  41. z.... ....

    This song's not about Alice at all-- it's about her husband, the war vet who felt guilty.  He's the one who runs the car into the ditch, & is on first name basis with the local mechanic.  He's got the problem that he's avoiding acknowledging, so he's projecting it onto his wife, and just pretending in front of his visiting friend.  And his friend, who sees thru this performance, knows the real truth-- & God love her, so does Alice.

    Tom T. Hall is a master.  

    z.... ....

    The song has double-edged irony. Alice may have a drinking problem, but so does her husband ("Empty that one down,we'll have another"), but he is in denial about his own. Tom T. is a master of such irony. There's a reason why he's been called the Ernest Hemingway of country music.

    z.... ....

    The army buddy has PTSD which has made him become emotionally unavailable to his wife, thus her drinking problem. A sad vicious cycle that I have seen and experienced first hand in this lifetime.

    z.... ....

    nope i am not i know kevin james sargent we are talking about my bride and ours wedding i think you are confused

    z.... ....

    I agree in spite of what "mouse brain" says.

    z.... ....

    What a crock of s***, if I had a stick I would draw you a Australian mud map,, You don't get it with TomT Hall, You Ain't Country you'll never will, nor comprehend the truth, in this unfortunate story!

  42. W.... W....

    One of the best country songs ever written, especially for a listener who has or had an alcoholic in his or her family; make that one of the best songs in any genre!

    W.... W....

    You've hit the nail on the head William, I hope you are doing well all these years later.. not all of today's generation has forgotten about real country music.. 21 here and I'm drunk all the time, since about 16 - 17..

    W.... W....

    You don't have to suffer, you don't have to do it alone. AA helped me, they can help you too. One day at a time.

  43. L.... K....

    "She made that apple pie from a memory, made them biscuits from a recollection that she had....."

    L.... K....

    swell hello colon my friend

  44. P.... G....

    You are SO right, wright, write, or what ever

  45. d.... ....

    If you don't "Get it " that is most likley a good thing

  46. m.... ....

    If it's about a scoop of broken glass it was the same thing to me as saying anything that Mr. Hall writes is gold and the words are so simple but the meaning/feeling is much more than those words. If it's not about that i'm just too dense to explain anything else to you.. Have a great day and a super moon

  47. C.... W....

    but, my comment was obviously in reply to yours. i don't get what you're saying.

    C.... W....

    thank you ryan salmond i love you too

  48. m.... ....

    People have relatives, friends, spouses that have obvious addictions. Often the problems are ignored whether it is because of love of dependency or fear of embarrassment. Perhaps the song is about someone putting up with an alcoholic and being unable to do anything about it.
    Sometimes the house has to burn down before anybody tries to help that person.
    This is just my opinion and not meant to change anyone's minds..

  49. C.... W....

    i don't get it

  50. N.... M....

    His voice and songs,are similar to Bobby Bare,what say you

  51. E.... ....

    Best line in the song-Alice put your ashes in the ashtray i swear woman youre gonna burn down the house

  52. h.... ....

    Very well put.

  53. m.... ....

    Mr. Hall's words don't always line up and that is what is special about his songs.
    He could take a scoop of broken glass, put it in a bag, shake it and pour out new marbles.

  54. s.... ....

    The greatest song writer...Ever!!!

  55. j.... ....

    you know he had some great interesting names in his songs ,
    john henry , pamela brown , clayton delaeny, betty grable, ect , and by the way
    barbra walker lol ,

  56. b.... ....

    Thanks for up-loading this song by a Great Man. It was a Fine Time to listen to Country Music..