Alice's Restaurant

"If you want to end the war and stuff, you gotta sing loud." Arlo Guthrie

I remember in college, there was a guy who insisted we all had to listen to Alice's Restaurant because it is a "Thanksgiving tradition." I was raised by folkies and it was the first I heard of this tradition. I soon realized that this was because, amusing tradition or not, there was absolutely no way people who hosted a 30+ person sit-down Thanksgiving dinner would have the time to indulge in an 18+ minute sing song.

One thing that amazes me about Thanksgiving as an adult who does not host Thanksgiving is how incredibly calm it is and how much time one has on one's hands. I can totally understand how this tradition took root among people who looked at the yawning chasm of time between waking up and getting to one's destination and worrying at how it could be filled. Especially before the internet was invented to take the edge off of everyone's boredom. The parade is over, the ballgames haven't started, an 18+ minute song that begins on Thanksgiving? Sign us up!

Happy Thanksgiving!