Submitted by SatansLoLHelper t3_z3v25t in todayilearned
Comments
johnnywriteswrongs t1_ixnrtuh wrote
Just finished listening to it. Thanksgiving tradition at my house.
SatansLoLHelper OP t1_ixnsx1n wrote
You want to know if I'm moral enough to join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein' a Litterbug
_genepool_ t1_ixnt0cc wrote
Same here !
bstowers t1_ixnvrq9 wrote
27 8×10 color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one don't lie about father rapers.
Uranus_Hz t1_ixnvw9d wrote
How can you forget “Alice’s Restaurant Thanksgiving Day Massacree”
JFH1111 t1_ixnwfen wrote
Lol! It’s probably been a good 15 years since I heard the song. I guess I’ll have to remedy that today.
Uranus_Hz t1_ixnwxqk wrote
Uranus_Hz t1_ixnx8ux wrote
We used to have two thanksgiving dinners - one at my parents house and then another with my wife’s family. It was about a 45 minute drive so we’d listen to it in the car every year.
johnnywriteswrongs t1_ixnyobk wrote
Perfect idea. I've listened to it every year since about 1979. My teenage kids hate it for some reason.
Jaded_Prompt_15 t1_ixnz6rd wrote
The movie holds up pretty well if youve never seen it, give it a shot.
devilstaint t1_ixo00f1 wrote
Thank you that is awesome
Homelessnomore t1_ixo1h0a wrote
The missing audio from the Nixon Watergate tapes is about the same length as Alice's Restaurant. Coincidence? I think not.
mediumokra t1_ixo1r1r wrote
It took me YEARS to realize the point of the song Alice's Restaurant. The hidden message in the song is that he tells the story and says he's REALLY here to talk about the draft, and the things he does to try to make himself undesirable to the military.... But then they find out he was arrested for littering and they wouldn't take him.
The REAL hidden message in the song is if you can get yourself arrested for a minor crime like littering, you can avoid getting drafted. That's the whole hidden message.
TheOutbreak t1_ixo3bt9 wrote
I have no idea what this is about. I've never heard about any of this. Is this Thanksgiving tradition? What? Is it a regional thing?
loquacious_avenger t1_ixo4vka wrote
Our local radio station (KINK FM) always played Alice’s Restaurant at 1:00, and supper at my sister’s was at 2:00. We would leave the house at 1:00 sharp and pulled into her driveway as the song ended.
My youngest son came home one day and said he had to share a Vietnam War protest song with his APUSH class but didn’t know any. I told him to just wait ‘til it came ‘round on the guitar again.
OnTheShoreByTheSea t1_ixo50a6 wrote
It's a Thanksgiving tradition, yes.
evensevenone t1_ixo658o wrote
Different Alice’s, the song is about one in Massachusetts.
SatansLoLHelper OP t1_ixo6xs0 wrote
https://www.nytimes.com/1969/08/25/archives/movie-of-arlo-guthries-alices-restaurant-opens.html
> it's about the America of the nineteen-sixties, which is like a dog being wagged by a tail pronounced "VEETnam," about the continuity between generations (as well as the gap), about the mindlessness of authoritarian systems
crazybutthole t1_ixo6yg8 wrote
You led a very sheltered life.
This is as important to thanksgiving as putting up mistletoe is to christmas.
quixoticVigil t1_ixo710e wrote
Blood n gore n guts n veins in m'teeth
therealganjababe t1_ixo7suh wrote
I have to disagree,. I believe the message is how fucked up war is, that they'd take murderers and rapers but not someone who got arrested for something silly. That he was unacceptable to go kill people, and the absurdity of the draft, the war, all of it.
thesavageman t1_ixo8u0x wrote
arbivark t1_ixo9gz4 wrote
it's a thanksgiving tradition for my sister. my favorite arlo song is, i can't help falling in love with you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSF89swJ9IU&ab_channel=ArloGuthrie&themeRefresh=1
alarsonious t1_ixo9moz wrote
Well it's certainly true it is a story...
bolanrox t1_ixoak10 wrote
AudibleNod t1_ixodayi wrote
My house put it on when we were setting all the food out and doing final cooking. Good times.
richg0404 t1_ixofdsf wrote
> The hidden message in the song is that he tells the story and says he's REALLY here to talk about the draft
Well it's not really hidden given that Arlo says that exact thing in the song.
richg0404 t1_ixofj9j wrote
> teeth
teeff
Snatch_Pastry t1_ixofox8 wrote
There is a version out there where he talks about that during the song. I heard it on the radio once, but have never been able to find it.
agreeingstorm9 t1_ixohfe0 wrote
I'm an American and had never ever heard of it. If it's a tradition it's not a big one or it's regional one or the other.
Homelessnomore t1_ixohtv7 wrote
The version I heard was at a live show in New Orleans.
[deleted] t1_ixoi8zs wrote
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darkbee83 t1_ixojnwt wrote
Projecting much?
NevaehKnows t1_ixojyl1 wrote
They were sittin right there on the bench!
[deleted] t1_ixok9ia wrote
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ProfessionallyJudgy t1_ixokzbv wrote
The line is like 95% of the way through the song and its a single use of the word, not multiple slurs.
Personally, I always figured it was a tongue in cheek reference to the homophobia of the very conservative US military of the Vietnam Era, not that he was himself referring to gay men in that way. But sure, people can be offended about it if they like.
kay14jay t1_ixol7jy wrote
So you read through the lyrics and found nothing wrong? Maybe a word that belongs in the past .. many ‘good’ things have been left there for far less.
[deleted] t1_ixomzts wrote
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MichaelOChE t1_ixoo1hx wrote
I'm not proud... or tired.
Raistline1 t1_ixool0d wrote
Wife took me to see him about 15 years ago couple weeks before Thanksgiving in a room maybe seating 150 peeps. One of the the most memorable nights of my life. And of course he threw in Alice's Restaurant Massacre in four part harmony with extra jokes scattered throughout.
TheSurfingRaichu t1_ixopljg wrote
umbrella-maker t1_ixoq947 wrote
It’s still a restaurant, different name though.
ScorpionX-123 t1_ixoscqq wrote
He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send your fingerprints off to Washington."
ZsaFreigh t1_ixost1c wrote
Yeah I'm Canadian and have no clue what anyone in here is talking about.
TheOutbreak t1_ixot2dg wrote
I am American and this feels like some weird Mandela effect where I'm from a universe without this strange tradition
TheOutbreak t1_ixot6j1 wrote
thank you, that explains the "what", but I'm truly lost on how that's relevant to Thanksgiving. America is pretty big, maybe this is an East Coast thing?
jbrc89 t1_ixot6q7 wrote
Kshe 95 in Saint Louis has been playing this song at noon on Thanksgiving day since it came out its a Midwest tradition
Desarme t1_ixotbj8 wrote
I believe rapers aren't the only type of musician they draft to war.
MWBluegrass t1_ixou1qv wrote
The incident happened on Thanksgiving. That's why the dump was closed. People try to listen to the song once a year on Thanksgiving. I mean, I mean...it's only 18 minutes long.
corycutstrees t1_ixoulqq wrote
Some radio stations play it every thanksgiving since the events in the song begin on thanksgiving day.
I didn’t grow up with my parents playing it, but I’ve played it on thanksgiving every year since 2004 when I was 14 and first heard it on the radio on the way to a family thanksgiving lunch.
I called my folks today and what are they doing? Listening to Alice’s Restaurant in my absence. They have apparently done that every year since I moved out of the state (10 years ago). It made me feel very loved.
Ent_Trip_Newer t1_ixouq41 wrote
Radio stations only played it on Thanksgiving as it's a 30 or so minute song. Advertising rates are low on holidays. And part of the story takes place on Thanksgiving
TheOutbreak t1_ixovp2p wrote
I guess I should have read the lyrics, thank you for further explanation. It makes a lot more sense now.
It really seemed like y'all were saying "here is an anti-draft/anti-vietnam song we play on Thanksgiving just because" which sounds just as bizarre as Unfortunate Son being a classic Christmas jingle.
SheeEttin t1_ixowtoh wrote
Which bench?
[deleted] t1_ixoy0pl wrote
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Iamjum t1_ixoz1f9 wrote
The Group W bench!
Where you smoke cigarettes and play with pencils.
Criticallyoptimistic t1_ixp0re0 wrote
I play it every Thanksgiving for my family!
jazzminetea t1_ixp0vzi wrote
It's more generational than location. Been a thanksgiving tradition in my southern family for years.
or maybe more anti-war folk than generational... but definitely not about where you are from; other than it is American.
jazzminetea t1_ixp129z wrote
not regional, but maybe generational. Definitely anti-war.
EaterOfFood t1_ixp1ekn wrote
But can you get anything you want there?
EaterOfFood t1_ixp1ja5 wrote
Not just any rapers. Father rapers.
SatansLoLHelper OP t1_ixp1oeu wrote
> Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago
It's a hippie thing. Arlo Guthrie is Woody Guthrie's kid, Woody was a famous Union Folk Singer in the US. You may have heard his hit song "This Land is Your Land".
Is Die Hard only a Christmas movie on the West Coast where Nakatomi Plaza blew up?
casuallylurking t1_ixp1q04 wrote
With four part harmony! And mother rapers? Father rapers!
casuallylurking t1_ixp1s8g wrote
Excepting Alice.
casuallylurking t1_ixp2g1q wrote
70s. FTFY
casuallylurking t1_ixp2pao wrote
Yeah but Alice must be at least in her 70s by now.
wingedcoyote t1_ixp3bkv wrote
It's a "your parents or grandparents were hippies or hippy-adjacent in the 70s" tradition
Positive-Source8205 t1_ixp533d wrote
I was sittin’ there on the Group W bench snd the biggest, meanest farther taper of them all cane up to me and said, “What’d you get?”
And I said, “I got a $50 fine for littering …” And they all moved away from me, then I said, “And creating a public disturbance.” And they all moved back.
Positive-Source8205 t1_ixp56bt wrote
You can get anything you want at Alice’s restaurant!
picklefluffer t1_ixp79os wrote
I’m sorry you eat dinner at 2pm? Is that every day or just thanksgiving? We eat at 7 or 8 in my house
loquacious_avenger t1_ixp8oc6 wrote
My family traditionally has holiday meals mid-afternoon. I have no idea why, and it’s not a tradition I’ve continued.
Nulovka t1_ixp92bp wrote
Canadians have a different radio tradition:
ilrosewood t1_ixp9iju wrote
I always assumed Obie knew what he was doing and purposely saved him from the draft.
WhatWouldBenLinusDo t1_ixp9vfu wrote
Same here!
stilljustguessing t1_ixpaa8k wrote
It's so the poor slobs working kitchen duty can eat and get things cleaned up and stilll have a tiny bit of holiday left themselves before everybody eats and runs.
macromorgan t1_ixpanux wrote
Of course.
BloodChasm t1_ixpattw wrote
My favorite touch tunes song to play. Annoys the shit out of people cause it's 20 minutes of a dude rambling.
LeonardSmallsJr t1_ixpatuh wrote
Kiss my grits. Which Alice’s Restaurant are we talking about?
Edit: Answer is one Arlo Guthrie sings about, not the sitcom.
wdwerker t1_ixpb6co wrote
A client owned a small venue and they saved me front row seats to see Arlo. At the break I got to go on the tour bus and meet him !
loquacious_avenger t1_ixpb96l wrote
I grew up on the west coast. My parents were horrified by it, my sisters and I made it a family tradition. Very much a generational thing.
loquacious_avenger t1_ixpbcsi wrote
makes sense. better division of labor is another option.
subsonicmonkey t1_ixpdr7a wrote
We used to hear it on Thanksgiving on the radio in California as we drove to my grandparents’ place in Lake Tahoe in the 80s & 90s.
I just played it on Spotify this morning for myself while I was prepping some Thanksgiving dishes.
subsonicmonkey t1_ixpdwmz wrote
That line always cracks me up.
cr1t1cal t1_ixpemie wrote
And feelin’…
PLEBMASTA t1_ixpf2nc wrote
Well Alice’s Restaurant wasn’t the name of the restaurant it was the name of the song. That’s why he called the song Alice’s Restaurant
High_Life_Pony t1_ixpgbs0 wrote
I’ve never even heard of this.
niamhweking t1_ixpitaj wrote
We'd have Xmas and easter dinner around 3, but never eat dinner any other day at that time. It takes so long to eat you gotta start earlier than normal, we'd also be up earlier on Xmas day than normal and I'm motnmaking a lunch and dinner that day so it's a dunch or linner type thing
VetteBuilder t1_ixpnshe wrote
Alice, Alice, Who the F is Alice?
mr_four_eyes t1_ixpoty2 wrote
I mentioned listening to it to some of my old co-workers and not a single one had ever heard of it
wellhiyabuddy t1_ixppkyb wrote
Your next door neighbor of 20 years
justadrtrdsrvvr t1_ixprzf7 wrote
Not the redditor we deserve
mckulty t1_ixps7y7 wrote
Same in Birmingham 20 years ago.
huxleywaswrite t1_ixpseyv wrote
But not litterbugs
747ER t1_ixptkqc wrote
Heaped, dead, burned bodies…
igenus44 t1_ixpukoq wrote
There is even a movie...
dancegoddess1971 t1_ixpus3k wrote
"I didn't get anything. I had to pay $50 and clean up the garbage."
Thatstoneguy420 t1_ixpw8cy wrote
And all kinds of mean nasty ugly things
Thatstoneguy420 t1_ixpwhqd wrote
If you’re a fan and have never heard the “multi-colored rainbow roach” version, I think you’ll appreciate it. Happy belated thanksgiving!
https://open.spotify.com/track/2j8dSUXZQTFCZDMV9tBOW6?si=MIyk5EtaRDm87Ws6MXxQ3g
PirateQM t1_ixpwkvr wrote
Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the toilet seat so I couldn't hit myself over the head and drown, and he took out the toilet paper so I couldn't bend the bars roll out the - roll the toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape.
HelmetBoiii t1_ixpx9go wrote
Ffa
tattooedheathen t1_ixpyz65 wrote
And they aaaalll moved away from me on the bench, there
Important_Collar_36 t1_ixpzawy wrote
It's more like the sheer amount of food to put away/divvy up, and dishes to wash. Even if you keep up on the washing, it's still a lot after the meal. It would take a 4 or so people a couple hours in my family most of the time.
Important_Collar_36 t1_ixpzg9o wrote
He was kind of a legend in Stockbridge. Like the real life Barney Fife.
GameDaySam t1_ixpzuws wrote
And causing a nuisance
[deleted] t1_ixpzwy4 wrote
Teenagers hate everything for some reason.
Important_Collar_36 t1_ixq0jkq wrote
NPR plays it every year, some other commercial radio stations do too. But mostly it's an NPR listener thing.
HapaxesL t1_ixq1a09 wrote
Obie and the blind judge (James Hannon) play themselves.
PuddleCrank t1_ixq30t2 wrote
They'll come around, just like the next chorus on this here guitar.
leeroy20 t1_ixq3aja wrote
Great song! We listen to it every year on Thanksgiving. He's an outstanding performer, I've seen him about 10 times. Went and visited the church a few years back, Arlo bought it and turned it into a music venue.
BearsArrive t1_ixq5f0v wrote
How many times has someone made a joke about having 'another thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat?'
BearsArrive t1_ixq5gut wrote
I listened to that shit in my dad's car all throughout my teenage years and loved it. They'll come around lol.
CircaSixty8 t1_ixq5ryg wrote
Fun facts, Alice's restaurant still very much exists and is open for business to this very day.
BearsArrive t1_ixq5sr0 wrote
Not sure I'd say that's a hidden message as much as it's just the exact content of the song.
The 'message,' as Arlo tells it, is a sort of celebration of stupidity. Let's all be thankful that the assholes running our world are morons too, or there'd have been a lot more folks shipped out to Vietnam.
BearsArrive t1_ixq5vbo wrote
What's your issue with it?
BearsArrive t1_ixq62ho wrote
It's a very famous protest song against the Vietnam war, taking the form of a true story about how the singer got arrested for dumping garbage when he was a teenager, and later found out that made him ineligible for the draft.
It's poignant and really funny, I'd definitely recommend having a listen sometime. It is like, 15 minutes long, though.
AU_Cav t1_ixq65do wrote
The radio station near my mother’s house plays it at noon every Thanksgiving. I time my trip to arrive at her house at 12:15 so I don’t have to sit in her driveway listening to the end
Longjumping_Youth281 t1_ixqbqy1 wrote
Wait so in the song is this made out to be like trivial or something like that? Because it sounds like he dumped an entire bus worth of trash in a beautiful meadow. That actually is a kind of shitty thing to do. When people said littering I always thought like it was one paper cup or something like that.
Stockbridge is absolutely beautiful and has some great natural beauty and stuff like that. It would definitely suck if two people came from out of town and literally just dumped garbage everywhere
spacecampreject t1_ixqcw68 wrote
Cept Alice.
Bigbird_Elephant t1_ixqe59w wrote
My dad was an extra on the movie and did some work for Arlo at the time
RealityGuru t1_ixqio8p wrote
Named my son Arlo. This was the first year he was old enough to listen and understand that the singer had the same name as him.
naturalchorus t1_ixql1vs wrote
They added their garbage onto a pile of garbage the locals of the area had been using as their dumping site.
Trancefuzion t1_ixqlp73 wrote
And they all moved away from me on the bench there
msspider66 t1_ixrdmkn wrote
I grew up on Long Island. A radio station, I think WBAB, played it every Thanksgiving.
These days I live in Michigan and listen to it on YouTube
SothaSillyGoose t1_ixrfic9 wrote
Based Obie
ConnectEggplant t1_ixrscic wrote
Ours, too.
SerenaSamantha t1_ixtp34l wrote
They thought one big pile of garbage was better than two little piles, so instead of bringing the other pile up they threw theirs down.
SerenaSamantha t1_ixtp60o wrote
Mother tapers and father staggers as well. 😏
Raistline1 t1_ixueqd1 wrote
Awesome!
xilix2 t1_ixyh4aw wrote
Arlo played during Ratdog's intermission at the Further Festival many years ago. I think it's the only thing I remember from that day. -:)
chilicuntcarne t1_iy076x8 wrote
I know that it's a long song but it really doesn't span 2 days.
dinodoes t1_iy2xcne wrote
Don't currently have internet where I live. Having to use data. Doesn't work well enough to listen to music
SatansLoLHelper OP t1_ixnrdar wrote
Newspaper clipping.
Obie plays himself in the movie, because making himself look like a fool was preferable to having somebody else make him look like a fool. He did spend 2 hours to find evidence of whose trash it was.