History YMMV / AlicesRestaurant

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The song is dated enough to the late 1960s that Guthrie himself felt it was no longer relevant after UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar ended and quit performing it. He brought it back in 1984 as a protest against the Selective Service system and then settled on putting the song back on his setlists on years ending in the number five to commemorate the anniversary of the events. When he performed it in 1995, he often alluded to how there's likely people in the audience who don't understand the point of the story since they have no memory of the time in which it happened.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The song is dated enough to the late 1960s that Guthrie himself felt it was no longer relevant after UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar ended and quit performing it. He brought it back in 1984 as a protest against the Selective Service system and then settled on putting the song back on his setlists on years ending in the number five to commemorate the anniversary of the events. When he performed it in 1995, he often alluded to how there's likely people in the audience who don't understand the point of the story since they have no memory of the time in when it happened.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The song can be dated to the 1960s on multiple counts.

* ValuesDissonance: Arlo says that if two people sing the song as protest, "they'll think you're a couple of faggots." While his use of the term wasn't considered particularly offensive in 1967, it definitely wouldn't fly today. Guthrie has acknowledged this and has spoken the line differently since the 1990s. For example, in his 2005 performance of the song at Farm Aid, he instead says, "I don't know what the policy is, but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell I guess if you tell them you ain't going!]]"

* RetroactiveRecognition: M. Emmet Walsh, in his first film role, as a sergeant at Arlo's draft induction.

* ValuesDissonance: Arlo says that if two people sing the song as protest, "they'll think you're a couple of faggots." While his use of the term wasn't considered particularly offensive in 1967, it definitely wouldn't fly today. Guthrie has acknowledged this and has spoken the line differently since the late 1990s. For example, in his 2005 performance of the song at Farm Aid, he instead says, "I don't know what the policy is, but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell I guess if you tell them you ain't going!]]"

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The title track is dated to the 1960s, on two counts, as it refers to the draft during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and homosexuality being a disqualification for military service in the U.S.

* ValuesDissonance: Arlo says that if two people sing the song as protest, "they'll think you're a couple of faggots." While his use of the term wasn't considered particularly offensive in 1967, it definitely wouldn't fly today. Guthrie has acknowledged this and has spoken the line differently since the late 1990s. For example, in his 2005 performance of the song at Farm Aid, he instead says, "I don't know what the policy is, but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell if you tell I guess if you tell them you ain't going!]]"

* ValuesDissonance: Arlo says that if two people sing the song as protest, "they'll think you're a couple of faggots." While his use of the term wasn't considered particularly offensive in 1967, it definitely wouldn't fly today. Guthrie has acknowledged this and has spoken the line differently since the late 1990s. For example, in his 2005 performance of the song at Farm Aid, he instead says, "I don't know what the policy is, but [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell if you tell I guess if you tell them you ain't going!"

* ValuesDissonance: Arlo says that if two people sing the song as protest, "they'll think you're a couple of faggots." That kind of language wouldn't fly in today's polite society. The 30th anniversary performance of the song addresses this.
--> "I don't care what the president says, unfortunately to a lot of people, that's still a problem!"

* ValuesDissonance: Arlo says that if two people sing the song as protest, "they'll think you're a couple of faggots." That kind of language wouldn't fly in today's polite society. It's also a case of SocietyMarchesOn, as being gay disqualified a person from being enlisted into the army while the Vietnam War was going on. The 30th anniversary performance of the song addresses this.

--> "I don't care what the president says, unfortunately to a lot of people, that's still a problem!"
* WildMassGuessing: The main proponent of "Nixon's mising 18 minutes contains 'Alice's Restaurant'" is Arlo Guthrie himself.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Not just the tune itself, but the fact that, in the many decades that he's performed this song, Arlo consistently manages to recite 18+ minutes of dialogue ''and'' play an intricate guitar melody without missing ''a single note''! This includes at least one performance where he forgot the words and just ad libbed, all while still playing the guitar flawlessly.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Not just the tune itself, but the fact that, in the many decades that he's performed this song, Arlo consistently manages to recite 18+ minutes of dialogue ''and'' play an intricate guitar melody without missing ''a single note''!
** At one performance, he actually forgot the words and managed to get by ad-libing random thoughts for several minutes while still playing the guitar flawlessly.

* ValuesDissonance: Arlo says that if two people sing the song as protest, "they'll think you're a couple of faggots." That kind of language wouldn't fly in today's polite society. It's also a case of SocietyMarchesOn, as being gay disqualified a person from being enlisted into the army while the Vietnam War was going on.
** Amended on the 30th anniversary performance of the song.

* AwesomeMusic: Not just the tune itself, but the fact that, in the many decades that he's performed this song, Arlo consistently manages to recite 18+ minutes of dialogue ''and'' play an intricate guitar melody without missing ''a single note''!

* ValuesDissonance: Arlo says that if two people sing the song as protest, "they'll think you're a couple of faggots." That kind of language wouldn't fly in today's polite society.

* AwesomeMusic: Not just the tune itself, but the fact that, in the 50 years that he's performed this song, Arlo consistently manages to recite 18+ minutes of dialogue ''and'' play an intricate guitar melody without missing ''a single note''!

* WildMassGuessing: The main proponent of "Nixon's mising 18 minutes contains 'Alice's Restaurant'" is Arlo Guthrie himself.

--> "I don't care what the president says, unfortunately to a lot of people, that's still a problem!"

* MemeticMutation: Supposedly the point of the whole thing.
-->Can you imagine, three people walking in, singin a bar of "Alice's Restaurant" and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of "Alice's Restaurant" and walking out. Then, friends, they may think it's a movement.

* ValuesDissonance: Arlo says that if two people sing the song as protest, "they'll think you're a couple of faggots." That kind of language wouldn't fly in today's polite society.

-->Can you imagine, three people walking in, singin a bar of "Alice's Restaurant" and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of "Alice's Restaurant" and walking out. Then, friends, they may think it's a movement.