how long is this song? i've been told it's one of the longest ever recorded

I heard it's about 2 tons + big fries but no offence

It's about one tape gap long......or 18 minutes and 20 seconds. Of course the updated version is longer by a few minutes, but the whole CD is shorter. I don't know how it works out that way, but then again Arlo doesn't either.

How strange this is!

Arlo, any chance you may do Alice's Restaurant in concert again this year ?? I saw you in Chicopee last year & would love to hear this one live.... You are a blessed preformer & I am glad that I was able to see you & hope to see you again !!!

Hi all,
I got a link on my website that lists war resisters to the lyrics here to Alice's Restaurant. It looks like an ad to the Restaurant, and some folks might think it is just that, until they check the link. See it here: http://www.tomjoad.org/warheroes3.htm at the bottom of the page.

I think it would be kinda cool to go to military recruiting stations and start singing this ourselves, or at least parts of it. Or maybe just bring a cd player. We really need to sing something at these places. We can't just let young folk sign their lives away for some insane war without saying anything, can we?

Not a bad idea. The recruiters come to them, now. The most recent recruit that I know is learning disabled, recruited before he graduated high school and they told him he'd be going to college. I'm afraid they forgot to say he'd be going to Iraq first. We'll see. He just got out of boot camp.

Actually, pat, it's worse than that. The recruiters practically "stalk" the kids, and know a lot about their individual backgrounds and personalities, etc. Pretty soon, they'll have to "shanghai" them into the military, I think.

As long as there's wars n stuff, there'll be plenty of patriotic kids that don't really know what the hell they are getting themselves into. I respect that they have good intentions of keeping us safe. It's themselves that they should worry about keeping safe..

*I'd personnally be skeptic of going anywhere that politians sons don't go? That would send up red flags. If Bush had 2 sons instead of daughters, he wouldn't be so smug!!! My wife & I couldn't even watch the thing on HBO last nite, about last letters home. If only we had got out of Iraq asap when Suddam H. was captured this war might make some sence. Even if micro-scopic, it would be 1/2 believeable. Bush is a mad-man, and I wonder how long it will take for the other 1/2 of the US to figure it out. Canada had it figured out, yrs. ago!!!!

My brother moved to Canada during the peak of the Viet Namn era. He did his externship (called internship here in the states) in Montreal Quebec. He decided to stay there, having dual citenship, he still only came for very selected reasons. He was home for my Moms funeral the week of Sept 21 04... I don't expect him back accross that bridge for some time.... He carries a certain survivors guilt, that some of his classmates werent' so lucky!!! His dreams of moving back to the states were quashed when GI's got spit on upon arriving home. Hence Canada seemed a lil more friendly a place... It's sad. He doesn't like to talk about it, as he was made to feel like a coward.

Thomas to me, you'll always be a hero! USA needs more of you! My hats off to Tom, still residing (altho he doesn't practice medicine anymore) in Quebec...

PEACE/Rob

One of the men featured on "Last Letters Home" served with my son-in-law, and was killed when Aaron was home on leave.

Just heard on the news that Rosemary Woods died today; if anyone knows how long Alice's Restaurant (the song) is, it's her. Wonder if they'll play the "massacree" at her funeral?

I saw that too Mikey, and was gunna post it here. She took the blame/credit for erasing the tapes, but the investigation done by experts later claimed she could not have done all of it by herself.

The latest addition to my LP collection is nothing else but "AR". I played it on my old-fashioned (though actually rather new) record player, and of course the entertainment value remains very great. With the war in Iraq, unfortunately its social relevance also remains great.

Maybe I'll try to start a new Thanksgiving tradition in my household, i.e., going down to the basement, getting out the record, and reliving the AR masacree.

Blundering from the song to the movie (I don't see any need to start a new thread with the same title):

The first time I saw the movie Alice's Restaurant, I was disappointed. The problem was preconceived notions; I expected the movie to be like the song, and the darker elements caught me off guard. From the second viewing on, I liked it.

(Off topic, but: It was the same thing the first time I saw Stuart Saves His Family. It's really a pretty good movie, but it's not a comedy, and I think that blindsided a lot of people.)

Back to Alice (remember Alice? This is a thread about Alice): The scene that really stuck with me was the one where Arlo and Pete are cheering up Woody Guthrie in the hospital. That had to be one of the very worst moments in his life, and I can’t imagine the torture it must have been recreating it.