Alice’s restaurant is mostly about the protest against the Vietnam War and the draft. On a thanksgiving day back in the sixties, Guthrie and his friend Richard Robbins were arrested for dumping Alice’s restaurant trash illegally by Officer William “Obie” Obanhien. Two days later they pleaded guilty and fined fifty dollars. Soon after Guthrie was drafted but since he pleaded guilty for littering, he was considered unfit for the military. This worked out in his favor. The song itself goes on to tell people if they are drafted to sing the song and to become unfit to be drafted and this creates the Anti-Massacree Movement. They song was later redone to protest president Reagan polices.

In 1964 Alice bought an old church where her and her husband lived. Six miles from there was the real restaurant. The restaurant was only open for a year when Alice and her husband divorced thus closing the restaurant. The location is still a restaurant just with a different name and owner. The church was also sold until 1991 when it was purchased by Guthrie and turned into a church with all religions welcomed. Alice M. Brock was a home owner, small businesses, owner and married. After losing all of that now she is a painter and artist.

The named the song after Alice because that’s where most of the garbage came from and they were staying at house at the time. It was also Alice who bailed them out of jail. When they got out the next day it was Alice who cooked them their thanksgiving meal. The song is not about Alice but she influenced their lives enough for them to just name the song after her.

Arlo Guthrie was a traveling folk singer who lived in Massachusetts. His dad was the famous Woody Guthrie who had a great impact on the life of bob Dylan. He played for many years and was known for his protest songs. That’s all I could find.

He wrote a song about Alice’s restaurant because his whole thanksgiving adventure with her kept him from a war that he heavily protested. Plus it was catchy and it seemed like the right thing to do after he got out of jail.

This song is about the hypocrisy of the U.S. government. That only the pure and good hearted people with no criminal recorded could be sent to do bad and black hearted things. Evan a thing such as littering was too morally wrong for a person to do that they were unfit for military service. So you can get anything you want at Alice’s restaurant even get out of the draft.

I think Mr. N chose this topic because he could get multiple responses with no right answers. This way he can further understands how we write and interpret stories and articles. So he can determine if we are fit for his government conspiracies. That is why I have come to the conclusion that this all a CIA test to see if our minds could be brainwashed. That is why I think he was inspired by this song.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1616
http://www.answers.com/topic/alice-s-restaurant-film-1