<P> "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" (self - identified multiple times in the lyrics of the song itself as "Alice's Restaurant") is a song by singer - songwriter Arlo Guthrie, released as the title track to his 1967 debut album Alice's Restaurant . It is notable as a satirical, first - person account of 1960s counterculture, in addition to being a hit song in its own right and an inspiration for the 1969 film also named Alice's Restaurant . The song is Guthrie's most prominent work, based on a true incident from his life that began on Thanksgiving Day 1965 with a citation for littering, and ended with the refusal of the U.S. Army to draft him because of his conviction for that crime . The ironic punch line of the story is that, in the words of Guthrie, "I'm sittin' here on the Group W bench' cause you want to know if I'm moral enough to join the Army--burn women, kids, houses and villages--after bein' a litterbug ." The final part of the song is an encouragement for the listeners to sing along, to resist the draft, and to end war . </P> <P> The song consists of a protracted spoken monologue, with a constantly repeated fingerstyle ragtime guitar (Piedmont style) backing, bookended by a short chorus about the titular diner; Guthrie has used the short "Alice's Restaurant" bookends and guitar backings for other monologues bearing the Alice's Restaurant name . The track lasts 18 minutes and 34 seconds, occupying the entire A-side of the Alice's Restaurant album . The work has become Guthrie's signature song and he has periodically re-released it with updated lyrics . </P> <P> "Alice's Restaurant" is a satirical, deadpan protest against the Vietnam War draft, in the form of a comically exaggerated but true story from Guthrie's own life . It has been described by at least one source as a shaggy dog story . </P> <P> The term "massacree," used by Guthrie in the title to describe the whole scenario, is a colloquialism originating in the Ozark Mountains that describes "an event so wildly and improbably and baroquely messed up that the results are almost impossible to believe ." It is a corruption of the word massacre (itself of French origin, possibly from the now nearly extinct Missouri French dialect) but carries a much lighter and more sarcastic connotation, never being used to describe anything involving actual death . </P>

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