Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" still something to be thankful for

Rachael Maddux

on November 27, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A disgusting number of Christmas songs populate the bulk of recorded music (as you'll discover when we unleash our all-holiday-music playlist on PasteRadio.com on Dec. 1st.) but far fewer have been penned in celebration of its fair sister, Thanksgiving. This makes it a bit easier to out Arlo Guthrie's 1967 "Alice's Restaurant" as the greatest Thanksgiving song ever written, but even if a sudden glut of turkey tunes were to clog our airwaves, I'm fairly confident this song would still tower above the rest.

At just over 18 minutes long, it's both an epic tale of a holiday gone awry and a biting satire of the blundering social establishment so eloquently (though perhaps never so loquaciously) railed against by Guthries past and present.

So wipe that cranberry sauce off your face, loosen up that belt a bit and settle in. If you haven't heard it before-- or even if you have-- you're in for a treat. (And if you want to sprechgesing-along, take a look at the lyrics.)