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Canned Goods Lyrics

Let those December winds bellow 'n' blow I'm as warm as a July tomato.

[chorus:]
Peaches on the shelf
Potatoes in the bin
Supper's ready,
everybody come on in
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
You can taste a little of the summer
my grandma's put it all in jars.

Well, there's a root cellar,
fruit cellar down below
Watch you head now,
and down you go
And there's

[repeat chorus]

Maybe you're weary
an' you don't give a damn
I bet you never tasted
her blackberry jam.

[repeat chorus]

Ah, she's got magic in her -
you know what I mean
She puts the sun and rain in
with her green beans.

[repeat chorus]

What with the snow
and the economy
and ev'ry'thing,
I think I'll jus' stay down here
and eat until spring.

[repeat chorus]

When I go to see my grandma
I gain a lot of weight
With her dear hands
she gives me plate after plate.
She cans the pickles, sweet & dill
She cans the songs of the whippoorwill
And the morning dew
and the evening moon 'N'
I really got to go see her pretty soon
'Cause these canned goods
I buy at the store
Ain't got the summer
in them anymore.
You bet, grandma,
as sure as you're born
I'll take some more potatoes
and a thunderstorm.

Peaches on the shelf
Potatoes in the bin
Supper's ready,
everybody come on in, now
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
My grandma put it all in jars.

Let those December winds bellow and blow,
I'm as warm as a July tomato.

[repeat chorus]
3 Meanings

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Cover art for Canned Goods lyrics by Greg Brown

Correction. Grandma is alive when the song is written, but we all know grandmas are not immortal.

Cover art for Canned Goods lyrics by Greg Brown

A snapshot of rural America during childhood - a way of life that is more than likely disappearing and has disappeared for the singer. It's a memory - however treasured - it's confined to memory.Grandma is probably no longer alive. And that deep sense of belonging is probably no longer felt.

Cover art for Canned Goods lyrics by Greg Brown

This is a beautiful paean to grandfilial gustatory nostalgia. It makes me think of Christmas Eve when I was a child, when my grandmother would serve the Maryland crab soup she made the previous summer. I think this song also has something in common with "That Summer Feeling" by Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, although that is more about pre-adolescent memories of summer with friends.

Memory
 
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