# Thanksgiving Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 26, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688 "2014-11-26T17:02:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/1 "2014-11-26T17:02:29Z")
Do you make a point of listening to any songs on Thanksgiving? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/2 "2014-11-26T17:31:47Z")
Nope. Not me. For some reason, don’t know what or why, when I think of Thanksgiving I don’t think music. Maybe it’s because I’m thinking instead of turkey and pumpkin pie and stuffing and corn and pecan pie and wine and zucchini pie and ice cream and sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce and green beans and ham and mashed potatoes and gravy and chocolate silk pie and Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider and baked beans (WITH BACON!) and black olives and … One reason why I don’t equate music with Thanksgiving is that there were never any good musicals or movies about Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is about food and football and family. And giving thanks for our many blessings. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/3 "2014-11-26T17:34:30Z")
The only song I can think of that is a Thanksgiving song is _Over The River And Through The Wood_. The thought of singing or listening to Thanksgiving songs never crosses my mind, though. So… What? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/4 "2014-11-26T17:38:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The only song I can think of that is a Thanksgiving song is _Over The River And Through The Wood_. Yeah, that’s the song that I associate with Thanksgiving. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/5 "2014-11-26T17:52:50Z")
From Planes, Trains and Automobiles, [this song reminds me of Thanksgiving like none other](http://youtu.be/HY8zgJUDI9w). ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/6 "2014-11-26T17:55:45Z")
I want you to go over and sit down on that bench that says ‘Group W’. NOW, kid! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/7 "2014-11-26T18:08:18Z")
My parents are old hippies so we’ve been raised on “Alice’s Restaurant” (a local station plays it every Thanksgiving at noon, too). Being that we already had one Thanksgiving song, Adam Sandler’s song was a welcome addition. But it doesn’t have the same impact as Alice, so we don’t sit and listen as a family. I will probably find it on YouTube tonight, though, and all day tomorrow be thinking in my head “THANKSgiiiiiiving is a special night…” ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/8 "2014-11-26T18:29:12Z")
The first song that comes to mind is _Over the River and Through the Woods_, as it is for others; the second is _[We Gather Together](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFWH_RAQ3og)_. Neither _Alice’s Restaurant_ nor Sandler’s song ever entered my mind. I’ve only listened to the former all the way through once, which was plenty. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/9 "2014-11-26T18:50:06Z")
I’ll take [this one by The Dixie Hummingbirds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loITOvRBRk0) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/10 "2014-11-27T01:46:40Z")
I had no idea there were Thanksgiving songs. I’ve never associated any song with Thanksgiving. I voted “What?” ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/11 "2014-11-27T02:45:53Z")
Over the River is the only one I know. ---
**Author:** ![MsKaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@MsKaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsKaren)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/12 "2014-11-27T03:53:17Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > The first song that comes to mind is _Over the River and Through the Woods_, as it is for others; the second is _[We Gather Together](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFWH_RAQ3og)_. Neither _Alice’s Restaurant_ nor Sandler’s song ever entered my mind. I’ve only listened to the former all the way through once, which was plenty. Yep, ‘We Gather Together.’ I like thinking about the very cool rhyme scheme, and speculating about how the writers’ and singers’ pleasure in rhymes and rhythm closely reflects early hip-hop and both populations’ lack of access to other musical instruments and outlets. Over the River, too, I associate with Thanksgiving. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/13 "2014-11-27T04:49:27Z")
Over the River and Through the Woods We Gather Together [Evening Prayer Song](http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=prayer+song+hansel+and+gretel&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=0FD44E6A97A88ACF31040FD44E6A97A88ACF3104) (from “Hansel and Gretel”) [Turkey Lurkey Time](http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=turkey+lurkey+time&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=9E0F1FC089DA0310EE849E0F1FC089DA0310EE84) (from “Promises, Promises”). Actually a Christmas song, but it works for Thanksgiving too. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/14 "2014-11-27T05:29:48Z")
Stan Freberg’s “Take An Indian To Lunch” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EgjwYR4bYU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EgjwYR4bYU). In the lyrics are such gems as “Let him share our Quaker oats/'cause he’s useful when he votes”. And the surrounding material is great. > [@](#): > > Mayor: Whaddaya mean you cooked the turkey, Charlie? > > Charlie: Well, I cooked the turkey, that’s all. > > Mayor: You put our national bird in the oven. Is that correct? > > Charlie: Yeah, well I, uh . . . > > Mayor: And all of us had our mouths set for roast eagle with all the trimmings. > > Charlie: Yeah, well I, uh . . . ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/15 "2014-11-27T07:29:53Z")
I, too, voted What? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/16 "2014-11-27T11:41:09Z")
Remember Alice? The _song_’s about Alice! The hell it is, but I was born in 1954, so I’ve been listening to _Alice’s Restaurant_ ever since it first came out in the late 1960s. I’ve still got my LP from back in the day, so I can toss that on the phonograph (yes, I still have one of those) any time today that I’m in the mood. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/17 "2014-11-27T15:28:42Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mW2GAnVIElk/hqdefault.jpg "Thanksgiving Song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW2GAnVIElk) Lori Berkner’s “Thanksgiving Song”, and maybe the hymn “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/18 "2014-11-27T15:52:27Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Remember Alice? The _song_’s about Alice! > > The hell it is, but I was born in 1954, so I’ve been listening to _Alice’s Restaurant_ ever since it first came out in the late 1960s. I’ve still got my LP from back in the day, so I can toss that on the phonograph (yes, I still have one of those) any time today that I’m in the mood. I’m a couple years younger, and my turntable got destroyed in the big '89 earthquake here in CA, but I listen to it every T-day. KFOG, the local “grey hair, pony tail” radio station plays it twice on that day, so no turntable required! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/19 "2014-11-27T16:08:53Z")
“The Thanksgiving Filter” - Drive-By Truckers [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APSQWPf0XLg) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688/20 "2014-11-27T18:09:09Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’m a couple years younger, and my turntable got destroyed in the big '89 earthquake here in CA, but I listen to it every T-day. KFOG, the local “grey hair, pony tail” radio station plays it twice on that day, so no turntable required! 🙂 Also under the “no turntable required” heading, there’s YouTube, which is how I listened to it about an hour ago. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-songs/705688.md?page=2)