After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put us in the cell. Said, “Kid, I’m going to put you in the cell, I want your wallet and your belt.” And I said, “Obie, I can understand you wanting my wallet so I don’t have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you want my belt for?” And he said, “Kid, we don’t want any hangings.” I said, “Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?”
-Arlo Guthrie - “Alice’s Restaurant”
Zach’s kitted out in his American outfit today (purchased for him by his Irish aunt near her home in Goteborg, Sweden) in honor of his Papa’s favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. I think this particular outfit looks like he’s got a future in professional wrestling, but we’ve got to remind him that he’s part American.
I’ve already written about my love for Thanksgiving and since someone pointed out that I have written two posts about “Astral Weeks”, I shan’t wax romantic about the holiday lest I be labeled repetitive (that’s what happens when you get old, SSG). But if I could beg a bit of indulgence, I’ll share one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions.
There aren’t a lot of Thanksgiving songs, seems Thanksgiving gets the short end of the stick when it comes to holiday music. I’ve got to give my Dad credit for creativity when it comes to establishing a holiday tradition. For every Thanksgiving that I can remember he played us Arlo Guthrie’s musical tale of the catch 22 that was the military draft in 1960’s America. The story of the “Alice’s Restaurant Masacree”.
“Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on - two years ago on
Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the
restaurant…”
Listening to “Alice’s Restaurant” and singing along with my Dad to our favorite parts was and is one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions. For some strange reason, we don’t get Thanksgiving off in Britain so we’re not celebrating until Saturday. But I sang Alice’s Restaurant to Zach today - twice - to carry on this Thanksgiving tradition. If you’ve never heard this, you’re in luck as its linked to the bottom of this post. It’s a little long, but worth it. If you have heard it - enjoy another listen.
I don’t have as many photos from Thanksgiving as I should - we’ll begin rectifying that this year - but here are a few from the past along with snippets of Guthrie’s songs.
Thanksgiving 2002 - Columbia, Missouri with friends and family.
“And I went up there, I said, “Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill, KILL, KILL.” And I started jumpin up and down yelling, “KILL, KILL,” and he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down yelling, “KILL, KILL.” And the seargent came over, pinned a medal on me, sent me down the hall, said, “You’re our boy.”
Thanksgiving 2003 - Columbia, Missouri - the international thanksgiving with Canadian, Indian and American friends.
“I went over to the seargent, said, “Seargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to ask me if I’ve rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I’m sittin’ here on the bench, I mean I’m sittin here on the Group W bench ’cause you want to know if I’m moral enough join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein’ a litterbug.”
Thanksgiving 2004 - Oxford - our first abroad in which Sinead’s family’s good humor helped assuage my homesickness.
“And that’s what it is , the Alice’s Restaurant Anti-Massacreed Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come’s around on the guitar. With feeling. So we’ll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and sing it when it does. Here it comes…”
Thanksgiving 2005 - Madeira - turkey-less.
“You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant
Walk right in it’s around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant”
Happy Thanksgiving!
17 responses so far ↓
1 SufferingFools // Nov 22, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Not to be picky, but it’s the “Alice’s Restaurant ENTIRE Massacree Movement”…. Nice post
2 SufferingFools // Nov 22, 2007 at 12:29 pm
LOL Disregard the first post, I’m an idiot… Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
3 dav3 // Nov 22, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Great post.. Happy Thanksgiving!
4 arizaphale // Nov 22, 2007 at 2:10 pm
What a fantastic trip back in time. I remember stumbling across the movie late one night in the late 70s but I missed the beginning and for years I couldn’t understand what the littering bit was all about
I can still picture Arlo sitting himself down on the bench in section W with all his glossy black curls and a benign grin…..anyway, I’m off to listen to it again!
btw: what date is Thanksgiving actually? I’ve always wondered?
And: what is your favourite Thanksgiving movie? I might open that one up for discussion….I have one in mind….
5 CDV // Nov 22, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Thanksgiving is typically the last Thursday in November. Not this year, for some reason. Anyone know why it’s the penultimate Thursday?
Best Thanksgiving movie - that’s a tough one - either “Home for the Holidays” which is hilarious or “The Ice Storm” which is kind of depressing, but beautiful.
Sitting here on the group W bench…
6 abbiem@verizon.net // Nov 22, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Happy Thanksgiving!
7 Nichole // Nov 22, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Happy Thanksgiving! We’ll raise a turkey leg in your honor
8 Jenelle // Nov 22, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Happy Thanksgiving to you Chris Sinead and Zach.
Thanksgiving is always the Thursday of the last FULL week of November. Next week is not a full week because the 30th falls on a Friday. That answer came from Jason and he should know since his birthday is the 29th and it has never been on Thanksgiving.
Why it would be like that, I don’t know.. probably something about Christmas and there being less shopping if Thanksgiving were allowed to be on the 29th or 30th.
9 Harlekwin // Nov 22, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Happy Thanksgiving, Chris!
The Yankee Doodle suit Zach is modeling today is wonderful… the Dawg socks truly make the outfit.
Thank you for the trip down memory lane with Alice’s Restaurant, I haven’t heard it in years. I enjoyed reading your memories of your favorite holiday and know you’ll have a wonderful celebration on Saturday.
Have you checked your calendar? This is the fourth Thursday of the month.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
10 Matthew // Nov 22, 2007 at 9:44 pm
I’ve always thought Thanksgiving was supposed to fall on the fourth Thursday of November.
Happy Thanksgiving
11 strangescottishgirl // Nov 22, 2007 at 10:58 pm
dude, i am glad you linked me again as other peeps will be interested in my mind jizz on the page. sweet. anyways, why is canadian thanksgiving like a month ago? what they got to be grateful for? apart from not being american (hehe sorry couldnt resist)! Also I think you get forgetful when you have a baby, lack of sleep sucks. Elephants are old and they dont forget shit. well actually i hope they do that would suck to remember actual dung heaps all day long. as you can tell I had a cranberry juice after cranberry talk all day and now I am hyper. off to watch the boosh on bbc3 at this college that i have snuck into, hope u is sleeping sound, sound.
12 alice // Nov 23, 2007 at 1:35 am
I’m quite familiar with the song. ;-D
When I was little, I found it annoying (everyone thought they were the first ones to think of asking me about Alice’s Restaurant), but in my adulthood, I’ve come to appreciate it as part of the Thanksgiving tradition (it is also my favorite holiday!).
13 KathyF // Nov 23, 2007 at 9:44 am
I was at M&S in Oxford yesterday, wondering why no one was frantically buying their turkey dinners. Okay, I didn’t really wonder that, but I did remark on how easy it is to forget what day it is over here.
Turns out the last Thursday in November is just like any other day! It’s like finding out Santa Claus doesn’t exist.
And I love Arlo, but not as much as I love his dad.
14 Elizabeth // Nov 23, 2007 at 10:41 am
I haven’t thought about Alice’s Restaurant in years! Thanks for the memories and happy thanksgiving!
15 Charlie on the PA Turnpike // Nov 23, 2007 at 2:25 pm
You can also see a decidedly older Arlo Guthrie sing his signature song in 2005 at YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5_7C0QGkiVo
You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant - Excepting Alice!
16 Nathan B. // Nov 23, 2007 at 6:18 pm
I’m pretty sure this is what Zach was thinking when that photo was snapped:
“Take a look at what I’m wearing, people. You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I’m wearing these bad boys?”
17 Miscellany at week’s end | chrisdellavedova.com // Mar 7, 2008 at 11:52 am
[…] On family: The Alice’s Restaurant Anti-Masacreed Movement […]
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