How This Famous Thanksgiving Song Has Ties To Montana

It's Thanksgiving week in Montana!

Folks will be traveling across the state, getting together with family and friends, and stuffing themselves like the turkey on the table. Some will watch football, others will play games, watch a movie, or maybe do some early shopping. The joy of Thanksgiving is, other than being thankful is partaking in traditions.

For some, that tradition includes listening to a very odd song that is almost 19 minutes. As you can imagine, radio isn't going to play a song that long, unless it's a special occasion, like Thanksgiving.

READ MORE: Is it ok to regift presents? Montanas weigh in. 

So, for many classic rock stations across Montana, they will play, in its entirety, the whole 18 minutes and 34 seconds of Alice's Restaurant. If you've never heard the song, it's all about Alice and her restaurant, but that's not the name of the restaurant. Two friends go to visit Alice and her husband, Ray, in a red VW microbus and end up committing a crime, which in turn puts them in front of a judge.

The song is mostly spoken word and was written and performed by Arlo Guthrie, who is the son of the legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie, who wrote This Land Is Your Land. Oh, and here is the part that's not only interesting, but links it all to Big Sky Country: Arlo once called Montana home.

That's right, Arlo Guthrie decided to spend some time in Montana when he was a student at Rocky Mountain College in Billings.

According to multiple sources, Guthrie was on Thanksgiving break from RMC when he traveled back to Massachusetts and was arrested for littering while visiting friends. This event then became the legendary song which is Alice's Restaurant.

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So, for those of you of a certain age who will be listening to Alice's Restaurant this Thanksgiving, just remember, it's got a little Montana to it.