In years past, a family tradition was to play Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant Thanksgiving Day Massacre every year at Thanksgiving, much to my younger brother’s dislike. Perhaps that is because the song is only truly appreciated by someone who was “of age” during the late 1960s when the the threat of being drafted into the Army and sent to Vietnam was on every young man’s mind. At any rate, for those of you who are of that age, here it is:
on Nov 23rd, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Ah yes, I remember it well…and I still get annoyed with its seemingly endless chatter. I did/do like the tune though.
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Jeff Reply:
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Intriguing. You have pretty much the same reaction as my younger brother. I imagine that the song appealed to a very narrow cohort of young men who were opposed to the Vietnam War and who had no deferment from the draft. I lost my deferment when I dropped out of college after one year.
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on Nov 23rd, 2008 at 11:17 pm
We played it for years too. I still love it and love the memory of the movie. I like the talk rap, storytelling actually, that Arlo does. Classic!
I don’t want a pickle.
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Jeff Reply:
November 24th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Ahhh …. storytelling. I just wanna ride my motor sickle.
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on Nov 25th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I was never a fan b/c it seemed to be on endless rotation on the radio – not until I started listening (and appreciating) more of his work, did I enjoy it.
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Jeff Reply:
November 25th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I don’t remember it being on endless rotation on the radio – that was too many years ago!
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