This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Vicki Rosenzweig (talk | contribs) at 05:59, 25 January 2002 (more on Alice's Restaurant; City of New Orleans). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 05:59, 25 January 2002 by Vicki Rosenzweig (talk | contribs) (more on Alice's Restaurant; City of New Orleans)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Arlo Guthrie is the son of folk singer Woody Guthrie. He wrote "Alice's Restaurant Massacree", a song that lasts for about 30 minutes, in protest against the Vietnam War draft.
The song tells the story of an adventure that began at Alice's Restaurant, which is also the name of a film which tells the same story.
Or to quote one of the song's Carollian twists:
- It's not the name of the restaurant, it's just the name of the song, which is why I call the song "Alice's Restaurant".
(compare with the song "Haddocks' Eyes" in Through the Looking-Glass")
The song goes on to tell how the narrator was hauled into court for littering, and eventually rejected as unfit for military service because of that conviction.
Guthrie also made Steve Goodman's song "City of New Orleans," a paean to long-distance rail travel, famous.