Five Decades Since The Movie "Alice's Restaurant"

Image result for alice's restaurant
Back in 1967, folk singer Arlo Guthrie released his signature album, on which the title track was his signature song. Alice's Restaurant Masacree has become a popular Thanksgiving tradition, and given the recent post on rock and politics, I thought it'd make sense to discuss the subject matter in this blog.

What About The Song?

 Arlo Guthrie penned this talking blues tune as a recounting of his 1965 visit to his friend Alice who lived in Stockbridge, Mass. at the time. The song discusses Guthrie's wanting to take out the garbage for Alice and take it to the dump and then getting arrested for littering because the local dump was closed.

However, it gets to the politics when Guthrie has to go in for his physical examination. During ths time, Arlo states that he was arrested and because of his crime, he was not considered moral enough to get drafted into the Vietnam War.

At the end of the song, Guthrie calls on the listener to sing a line of Alice's Restaurant and leave. This being part of the masacree movement where the listener is being encouraged to "sing it the next time it comes on the guitar."

And folks, need I say that this is a long song? It runs for about 18 minues and 25 seconds (18:25). Despite this, most classic rock stations play the ENTIRE song at least once during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

What about movie?

 Two years after the album, and four years after the event, a movie based on the event was recorded and released named after the song - Alice's Restaurant. While I haven't seen the movie in full, I will basically tell you that the movie is essentially a near retelling of the song. I am looking forward to seeing the whole movie.

A side note

 The song has been slightly exaggerated as not everything unfolded exactly as the lyrics of the song suggest.

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