Criminal Justice
Alice’s Restaurant
For this assignment, you will create a reaction paper to the song Alice’s Restaurant. A link to the song is below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m57gzA2JCcM
“Alice’s Restaurant Massacree“, commonly known as “Alice’s Restaurant“, is a satirical talking blues song by singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie
Links to an external site., released as the title track to his 1967 debut album Alice’s Restaurant.
The song is a deadpan protest against the Vietnam War draft
Links to an external site., in the form of a comically exaggerated but largely true story from Guthrie’s own life: while visiting acquaintances in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, he is arrested and convicted of dumping trash illegally, which later endangers his suitability for the military draft.
The lyrics of this song probably make no sense whatsoever, but there is a very long story behind it. First of all, there is no restaurant named Alice’s Restaurant. Rather, it is about a woman named Alice who lives near a restaurant. The title refers to a restaurant owned by one of Guthrie’s friends, artist Alice Brock; although she is a minor character in the story, the restaurant plays no role in it aside from being the subject of the chorus and the impetus for Guthrie’s visit.
After he sang the song, he then challenged anyone who is ever in that position to walk in and say, “Shrink – you can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant’ and then walk out. He called it the Alice’s Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement (Alice’s Restaurant Massacree). A movie was then made, using the same name, in which Arlo starred in (feel free to check out the movie if you want – this is not required for this assignment).
