Alice's Restaurant | TheaterFire

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EdwardDorito@reddit

Definitely remember listening to it on the radio in the car on the way to or from Grandma's for the Thanksgravying

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quite-indubitably@reddit

I’m not sure how I am just now learning about this

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jadethebard@reddit

My kid and I listen to it every year. I'm lucky and got to see Arlo perform it live when I was 11. It was almost twice as long live. lol Best concert ever.

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rabidturbofox@reddit

We listened to it every year! My best friend in high school had the BOOK and I was so jealous of it.

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TakingYourHand@reddit

I remember it like it was yesterday, listening right there on the Group W bench!

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Ham_Ah0y@reddit

With the father rapers?

Good God man, what did you do? Litter?

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TakingYourHand@reddit

Yeah, father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me!

Don't worry, I have rehabilitated, myself.

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kl1n60n3mp0r3r@reddit

You mean the legendary Alice's Restaurant Thanksgiving massacree with 5 part harmony and feeling?

We listened to it every year, right before we had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat. ;)

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Not only do I listen to it each year, but I live 45 minutes from Stockbridge and I've been to the church Alice lived in and wher Arlo had a few meals that couldn't be beat! It's called The Guthrie Center and if you ever get a chance you should go. Plus they do a free community meal on Thanksgiving for everyone but especially the less fortunate.

And if you get a chance to see Arlo on one of his tours, you should. It was amazing to see him play it live.

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Which-Investment9597@reddit

nothing like that song to get everyone reminiscing about the chaos before the feast

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GrumbleAlong@reddit

A great Thanksgiving tradition !

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defective_toaster@reddit

Can't forget the 27 8×10 glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a description on the back of each one telling what it is.

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kl1n60n3mp0r3r@reddit

“It was a typical case of blind justice…”

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Pineapple-Due@reddit

And if two of you sing it, in harmony...

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postitpad@reddit

Well they won’t take either of you.

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nudave@reddit

All you’ve got to do to join is to sing it the next time it comes around on the git-tar.

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ahawk99@reddit

You can get anything you want, at Alice’s restaurant.

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Careful-Use-4913@reddit

Walk right in it’s around the back

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kl1n60n3mp0r3r@reddit

Just a half mile from the railroad track!

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Morriganx3@reddit

You can get anything you want, at Alice’s restaurant

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hoopstick@reddit

Exceptin’ Alice

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dudly825@reddit

Arlo was my first concert (with my parents). People literally called for Alice’s Restaurant the entire concert. He refused to play it. People were visibly upset.

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GrizzlyAdam12@reddit

I’ve never heard of this song before. Just looked it up….18 minutes?!?

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YourStarsAlgonquin@reddit

Now that you've listened 6 times through, thoughts?

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GrizzlyAdam12@reddit

I lasted 2 minutes. Then I scrolled forward to the 12 minute mark…and it sounded exactly the same.

I’m out!

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LardLad00@reddit

Kids these days and their short attention spans

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sobeitharry@reddit

You're in for a treat.

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JacPhlash@reddit

KILL!!!!

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IndomitableAnyBeth@reddit

And we's both jumping up and down yelling, "Kill! Kill!"

Sergeant comes over, slaps on the back, pins a medal to my chest, says, "You're our boy!"

I didn't feel good about it or anything...

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Oldlucky303@reddit

Tradition in my house whether they like it or not!

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Pitiful_Ad2397@reddit

I definitely did

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Worldly_Elevator4655@reddit

Woah - just now texted family saying I missed the noon play on XRT - BUTTTTTT - to find a link p, I went to Reddit , bam got it, sent it, then found your words! Hello, person.

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Lexis_Rose@reddit

My mother of all people would play this religiously (not just on Thanksgiving either) and I could never understand why especially when I was at a young age growing up when this would be blasting through the house.

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smittymoose@reddit

I watched the movie while I cooked today.

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RaisinToastie@reddit

We listened to it every year in Ohio

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squarebodynewb@reddit

What the fuck are yall talking about?

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Do_it_My_Way-79@reddit

I listen to it Amy time of year. It’s so funnny.

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mattinglys-moustache@reddit

If you live in the New York area, Q104, the classic rock station plays it every thanksgiving day at noon. I did not know this was a thing anywhere else.

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blue_suavitel@reddit

God I hate it and can’t wait for it to end

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edwardturnerlives@reddit

Nope. My parents did not listen to music ever.

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Puzzled_Loquat@reddit

We listened to it today. Every year. As a kid it was on a record.

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WoofinLoofahs@reddit

I had absolutely no awareness of this song until 2 years ago. This whole time families across these United States hung their holiday on this song and in my house we had no idea.

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Jewishjay@reddit

Used to listen to it every year with my dad. Now I listen to it every year with my daughter.

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taxilicious@reddit

Yep! Always on the drive to the other side of the state. My dad even brought a Walkman and the tape on our thanksgiving week cruise in 1994!

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MountainTomato9292@reddit

I had the pleasure of seeing it performed live by Arlo Guthrie himself, in Eureka Springs, AR. Absolutely amazing show.

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Ssladybug@reddit

AND THEY TOOK TWENTY SEVEN EIGHT-BY-TEN COLOR GLOSSY PHOTOGRAPHS WITH CIRCLES AND ARROWS AND A PARAGRAPH ON THE BACK OF EACH ONE EXPLAINING WHAT EACH ONE WAS TO BE USED AS EVIDENCE AGAINST US. TOOK PICTURES OF THE APPROACH, THE GETAWAY, THE NORTHWEST CORNER THE SOUTHWEST CORNER AND THAT'S NOT TO MENTION THE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY.

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kgruesch@reddit

I pull this one out about 3 times a year at work and not a damn soul there knows what I'm talking about. I am disappoint.

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Ssladybug@reddit

So many people have missed out

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Pineapple-Due@reddit

And then he looked at the seein' eye dog

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old_mcfartigan@reddit

Don’t want any hangin’s

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Iamstu@reddit

I worked with a guy that was on the vw micro bus and was good friends with Arlo. Man that guy had some stories.

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ebzees@reddit

My dad was just talking about listening to it this morning. 😊 And yes, I listened over the years

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LordLaz1985@reddit

I discovered it as an adult. My dad fought in Vietnam, so he probably didn’t think it was very funny.

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thebrandedsoul@reddit

I re-join the Movement every year. It's easy!

All you got to do to join is sing... with feeling.

(My wife and sister do not understand how important this song is, and it makes me sad.)

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shempaholic@reddit

I'd usually hear it played on the radio on our way to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Man, I miss those days so much.

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PuppyJakeKhakiCollar@reddit

Same here. Some of my best childhood memories involve Thanksgiving at my grandparents' house.

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Morriganx3@reddit

One of our local radio stations did a charity fundraiser every thanksgiving where you could request any song you wanted if you donated. It was a classic rock station, but tor this, they’d post literally anything.

Most songs were cheap, but a few were super expensive, so they’d wait til the donations for that song reached $50 or whatever. Alice’s Restaurant was always one of the expensive ones, partly because it was long, but also because use it was so in demand. They’d usually end up playing it a few times every thanksgiving.

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PuppyJakeKhakiCollar@reddit

My siblings and I used to tease our dad for liking that long, boring song but secretly we liked it. Dad passed away in 2023 and I always will associate the song with him.

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PrincessSarahHippo@reddit

I didn't stumble upon it until I was maybe 30. But 🤣😂. I have to listen to it now, thanks.

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holymole1234@reddit

Arlo Guthrie used to do an annual Thanksgiving concert at Carnegie Hall. Finally my family and I went in 2014 or so - a really great experience.

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EffectiveCycle@reddit

The classic rock station would always play it exactly at noon, which always coincided with the time we’d leave to go to my aunt’s house. And my dad had to listen to it every year. I brought it up yesterday but I think he’s too technologically inept to just look for it.

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VenomousVenting@reddit

We don’t traditionally listen to it, but I think I will put it on for everyone’s enjoyment.

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OldJames47@reddit

Any chance you live in Western Massachusetts or the Albany area? The NPR affiliate there plays it non-stop on Thanksgiving.

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acctgamedev@reddit

Every year when I lived in Wisconsin

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FireflyRodric@reddit (OP)

my family is also from Wisconsin! Maybe it's a regional thing.

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fatwiggywiggles@reddit

The tradition started on a radio station in New York City. As people left the city they would then request the song at their own local stations, which is how it spread more nationally. Totally grassroots.

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DazzlingBullfrog9@reddit

When I lived in New Orleans, it was broadcast every year at noon on the classic rock station.

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fizzleguy@reddit

Love this song. I actually bought my dad a cameo from Arlo Guthrie a year or so ago for his birthday.

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MaracujaBarracuda@reddit

I saw Arlo perform a small concert in a local park a couple decades ago! He was a great story teller in between songs!

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Hillraiser@reddit

I grew up listening to Arlo Guthrie because of my dad and had the pleasure of seeing Arlo live a couple of times. If you think that song is wild, listen to The Story Of Reuben Clamzo and his Strange Daughter in the Key of A.

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mightysockelf@reddit

We have a classic rock station here in town that plays it uncensored on Thanksgiving, but only twice.

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onions-make-me-cry@reddit

Not only did I grow up with it, but I drove by actual Alice's Restaurant all the time growing up in Woodside, CA.

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DazzlingBullfrog9@reddit

I thought it was in Connecticut.

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onions-make-me-cry@reddit

I was always told it was based on the Woodside restaurant, I grew up learning that. But looks like it was a Massachusetts restaurant?

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No_Raisin_250@reddit

I’ve never heard this in my life 😅

But I’m Puerto Rican so we jammed to:

La Fiesta de Pilito

I just listened to it, damn that’s long but funny.

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Senior-Pomegranate50@reddit

I grew up watching Alice...

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yeltrah79@reddit

When I joined the military a friend and I used to joke that I wanted to see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth

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Glittering_Tea5502@reddit

I’ve never heard it on the radio, but I’ve heard a friend sing it.

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whiskeytown79@reddit

I lived near an Alice's Restaurant (https://alicesrestaurant.com/) growing up, and always assumed this song was referring to it.

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Earlasaurus02@reddit

Stockbridge Massachusetts, restaurant isn't there anymore but the church is. My father was in the movie, part of the crowd at the motorcycle race. Everyone got paid $5 and a hot dog to watch the race

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boilerdawg31@reddit

You can get anything you want

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DazzlingBullfrog9@reddit

Listening right now.

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djspacebunny@reddit

It just isn't the same without Pierre Robert playing it on WMMR :( RIP PIERRE.

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passamongimpure@reddit

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BoysenberryKind5599@reddit

We had never heard of a dump that was closed on Thanksgiving before

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Helo7606@reddit

Was listening to it earlier. Lol

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Elainya@reddit

My kids will roll their eyes and leave to their room if I play it this year. So I will.

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Careful-Use-4913@reddit

I discovered it in adulthood several years back. We and our kids have been enjoying it every year since. My parents were not anti-war, or anti-war sympathetic. My dad (even though he did a stint as a substance abuse counselor) still thinks weed is a “gateway drug”, despite hard evidence to the contrary. Probably why I never heard it.

But also interesting because I had Arlo Guthrie albums growing up, and my parents were both into folk. 🤷‍♀️ They’re a weird mix of Republican/Hippie.

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