Because of a strange confluence of events, Memorial Day Weekend, during which The Wife and I will attend a Bruce Springsteen Seeger Sessions show, this seemed like the perfect occasion to talk about one of the world's most famous protest songs. A celebration is going on marking the 40th anniversary of the writing of Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant. Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday...
Alice's Restaurant. One of the funniest things ever pressed on vinyl. A protest song. A Thanksgiving tradition. It's full of characters and situations that made us laugh out loud no matter how many times we listened. We loved Officer Obie. We loved those circles and arrows and paragraphs on the back. We loved the Group W Bench.
Still: a protest song. Of course, when I first heard it, the comedy side dominated. It wasn't until a few years later, after I'd begun to form opinions on war that Guthrie's message stood out in my young mind.
There are several memories that come attached to my worn copy of this record. Some funny, some serious. It's sort of amazing to me that one little song (however lengthy) can run a thread through so many decades and life situations.
The evening news. I'm not exactly sure how old I was. Probably no more than ten. Every night I'd sit down to dinner with my parents as we watched the evening news. Was it Walter Cronkite? Not sure about that. I clearly remember the body counts though. "Dad, what's a casualty?" It really bothered my little kid head. I worried that I'd grow up and have to go "over there." Mom assured me that I was her only son—they wouldn't make me go because of that. Mom's will do (or say) anything to shelter their young.
Cousin Mickey. He was a vibrant and outgoing guy. I didn't know him that well but it was obvious that he'd changed from his tour in Vietnam. The sparkle was gone, replaced by a cool, quiet detachment. He showed us some slides. One in particular stood out. We all looked at it and said "Uhm...what is it?" Turns out it was a dead enemy soldier. Curious. It just looked like some discolored underbrush. Funny what a mortar shell can do to a human body. I again hoped for an end to the war before it was "my turn."
Article comments
1 - Mary K. Williams
Welcome Back Sir Mark : )
Excellent FML too - love that song.
2 - J. P. Spencer
You know, the rest of this album wasn't bad either. I really like "Chilling Of The Evening". It's just a nicely arranged tune.
I've seen Arlo in concert twice (with Pete Seeger, before Pete retired). It was always a fun evening.
Mark, are you any relation to Don "Big Bird" Saleski, the former hockey player from the Philadelphia Flyers back when they actually won Stanley Cups? Just wondering.
3 - Richard Marcus
Thank you Mark, that was a wonderful summing up of the song and what it meant to someone of the appropriate generation. Did that come out sounding wrong I hope not, I meant it as a compliment.
Seeing that I was on the other side of the border, and a few years young for any chance of participation in that particular conflict, the particulars didn't mean as much to me. So its good to hear from someone whose life runs parallel to the song.
J.P. Spencer, thank you for reminding me about "Chilling in the evening" that is such a great song, and its funny because he plays it on the Live In Sydney album, and I think he played it when he was in Kingston, but I had completly forgotten it's connection to Alice's Restaurant.
Richard
4 - Mark Saleski
no jp, no relation. heck, i grew up in new england and never even learned how to skate!
my only 'famous' relation is stanley e. saleski, an uncle who is in the polka hall of fame (he was a polka dj).
5 - Chelsea Snyder
The first time I heard Alice's Restaurant, I was probably about four. My family was driving to Thanksgiving dinner about an hour away, and my Dad had it cranked on the radio and was laughing his ass off. I didn't understand why it was funny (and actually thought my dad had lost his mind), but now that I'm 21 and finally downloaded it again, I can see my father wasn't crazy.
Well. He was. But not because of the song.
6 - Bennett
Great stuff Sir Saleski! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
"littering..."
"veins in my teeth"
"you're our kind of boy!"
7 - Douglas Mays
Good job Mark. I remember in 1967 (?) as a 10 year old I had to special order the record because the disc was flying off the shelves everywhere.
All I can say is "I wanna KILL, KILL, KILL..."
hhhmmm...maybe I should go to the b-side because "I don't want no pickle, just wanna ride on my motorcicle...cuz I don't want to die, just wanna ride on my motorcy...."