Surely, you’ve heard the old Arlo Guthrie song “Alice’s Restaurant”. Of course, it was all tongue-in-cheek, but I can’t help but wonder if someone took it seriously. Did anyone actually walk into a draft office and utter the immortal words “You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant.”?
Nope.
I can’t imagine it wasn’t tried by at least one wise-ass in those days.
Yup.
I never heard of anyone trying it - but I have a sneaking suspicion if anyone had, the guvmint would have countered by taking twenty-seven glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one describing the miscreant, who then got shipped directly to Phnom Penh.
While “utter” is ambiguous, you can’t just say it, you have to sing it in 4 part harmony, and walk out.
What’s the meaning of this?
–Tim
Homer: Folk singer/song writer Arlo Guthrie wrote a song/story about Alice’s restaurant called “Alice’s Restaurant.” But “Alice’s Restaurant” isn’t the name of the restaurant, it’s just the name of the song, and that’s why he calls the song “Alice’s Restaurant.” In the song, Arlo suggests that when people are drafted to go to Vietnam that they walk into the draft office, sing a bar from “Alice’s Restaurant” (with four part harmony and feeling), then walk out.
I’m just waiting for it to come around on the guitar…
And I went up there, I said, “Shrink, I want to kill.
I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth.
Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill,
KILL, KILL.”
You’re our boy.
Back in college or shortly afterwards my parents and some friends went down to Stockbridge, Massachusetts to find Alice’s Restaurant. They found the restaurant and the church, then went to the police station and met Officer Obie (or Ogie, or whatever his name was.) Somewhere, one of my parents’ friends has a photo of all of them standing with Officer Obie. My dad or one of his friends is holding up a peace sign behind his head. I’d like to see that picture someday.
William J. Obanhein, Officer Obie, passed away a few years ago. I found a tribute to him:
http://www.arlo.net/obie.shtml
Also, it is GITtar, not guitar…
Alice’s Restaurant was made into a movie staring Arlo Guthrie, Obie (both playing themselves) and (in a bit role) Alice.
I have never seen it, just stumbled across it in a database.
I saw the movie many years ago. As I recall, it was pretty much just the events in the song with a few minor embellishments. Worth a look if you can find it in the video store and are a fan of the song.
Homer, you really need to find a copy of this song and listen to it. It is one of the more entertaining folk songs you are ever likely to hear. If you don’t know who Arlo Guthrie is, he is the son of American music icon Woody Guthrie (“This Land is Your Land”) and an accomplished folk musician in his own right.
My local classic rock radio station, (KRXO, plays it every year on Thanksgiving at noon. I tune in every year just to hear it on the air, even though I own a copy Arlo’s greatest hits album.
You forgot to advise him of the implication made by walking in with only one other person… 
I don’t get the whole draft thing anyway.
Why not just walk in there talking with a flaming gay lisp and pinching everyone’s ass? For an encore you could do say a few words from the Communist Manifesto, although you might have gotten in trouble for that during certain times in history.
So what gives with the citing lyrics and draft dodging and such?
— G. Raven