Intro: A Bm7 A D B7 E7 A D A Bm7 A D B7 E7 A Bm7 A D D7 G E7 D B7 E7 A D A Bm7 A Verse 1: D B7 This song is called Alice's Restaurant E7 A It's about Alice D A Bm7 A D And a restaurant B7 E7 A Bm7 But Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant A D That's just the name of the song D7 G E7 And that's why I call the song Alice's Restaurant Interlude: D B7 E7 A D A Bm7 A Verse 2: D B7 E7 A D A Bm7 A You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant D B7 E7 A Bm7 A You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant D D7 Walk right in it's around the back G E7 Just a half a mile from the railroad track D B7 E7 A D A Bm7 A And you can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant Verse 3: D B7 Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago E7 A D A Was on, two years ago on Thanksgiving Bm7 A D B7 When my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant E7 A Bm7 But, Alice doesn't live in the restaurant A D D7 G She lives in the church nearby the restaurant in the bell tower E7 With her husband Ray, and Fasha the dog D B7 E7 A And livin' in the bell tower like that they got a lot of room downstairs D A Bm7 A Where the pews used to be, and D Havin' all that room B7 Seein' as how they took out all the pews E7 A D A Bm7 A They decided that they didn't have to take out their garbage D For a long time B7 E7 We got up there we found all the garbage in there A Bm7 A D And we decided it'd be a friendly gesture D7 G For us to take the garbage down to the city dump Verse 4: E7 D So we took the half a ton of garbage B7 Put it in the back of a red VW microbus E7 A D A Bm7 Took shovels and rakes, and implements of destruction A D B7 And headed on toward the city dump E7 A D A Well we got there Bm7 A D And there's a big sign, and a chain across the dump B7 E7 Saying "Closed on Thanksgiving" A And we had never heard of a dump Bm7 A D Closed on Thanksgiving before D7 And with tears in our eyes G We drove off into the sunset E7 D Looking for another place to put the garbage B7 We didn't find one E7 A D A Bm7 A D 'Til we came to a side road B7 And off the side of the side road E7 A Was another fifteenfoot cliff D A Bm7 A D And at the bottom of the cliff was another pile of garbage B7 E7 A And we decided that one big pile is better than two little piles Bm7 A D D7 And rather than bring that one up we decided to throw ours down G That's what we did and E7 Drove back to the church D B7 Had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat E7 A D A Went to sleep and didn't get up until the next morning Bm7 A D B7 E7 A When we got a phone call from officer Obie Verse 5: D A Bm7 A He said "Kid D B7 We found your name on an envelope E7 A Bm7 A At the bottom of a half a ton of garbage and D D7 Just wanted to know if you had any information about it" G And I said "Yes sir, Officer Obie E7 I cannot tell a lie D B7 E7 A I put that envelope under that garbage" D A Bm7 A D B7 E7 After speaking to Obie for about fourty five minutes on the telephone A D A Bm7 A We finally arrived at the truth of the matter, and said D B7 That we had to go down and pick up the garbage and E7 A Bm7 Also had to go down and speak to him at the A D Police officer's station D7 G So we got in the red VW microbus E7 With the shovels and rakes, and implements of destruction D B7 And headed on toward the police officer's station Now friends Verse 6: E7 A D A Bm7 A D There was only one or two things that Obie coulda done At the police station B7 E7 And the first was that he coulda give us a medal A D A Bm7 A For being so brave and honest on the telephone D B7 Which wasn't very likely, and we didn't expect it E7 A Bm7 And the other thing was that he coulda bawled us out A D D7 And told us never to be seen driving garbage around the vicinity again G E7 Which is what we expected D But when we got to the police officer's station B7 E7 A D A There was a third possibility that we hadn't even counted upon Bm7 A D And we was both immediately arrested B7 Handcuffed E7 A D And I said "Obie I don't think A Bm7 A D I can pick up the garbage with these handcuffs on" B7 E7 He said "Shut up kid A Bm7 A D Get in the back of the patrol car" Verse 7: And that's what we did D7 Sat in the back of the patrol car G E7 And drove to the quote, scene of the crime, unquote D B7 E7 I wanna tell you about the town of StockBridge, Massachusetts A Where this happened here D A Bm7 A They got three stop signs D B7 Two police officers and one police car E7 A But when we got to the scene of the crime D A Bm7 A D There was five police officers and three police cars B7 E7 A Being the biggest crime of the last fifty years Bm7 A D D7 And everybody wanted to get in the newspaper story about it G E7 And they was using up all kinds of cop equipment D B7 That they had hanging around the police officer's station E7 A D A Bm7 They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints Dog A smellin' prints D B7 E7 A And they took twenty seven eightbyten color glossy photographs D A Bm7 A D With circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one B7 E7 A Bm7 A Explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us D D7 Took pictures of the approach, the getaway G The northwest corner, the southwest corner E7 D And that's not to mention the aerial photography Interlude: B7 E7 A Verse 8: D A Bm7 A D After the ordeal we went back to the jail B7 Obie said he was going to put us in the cell E7 A D A Said "Kid I'm going to put you in the cell Bm7 A D I want your wallet and your belt" B7 And I said "Obie E7 I can understand you wanting my wallet A Bm7 A D So I don't have any money to spend in the cell D7 But what do you want my belt for?" G E7 And he said "Kid, we don't want any hangings" D B7 E7 A I said "Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?" D A Bm7 A D B7 Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was E7 'Cause he took out the toilet seat A D A Bm7 A So I couldn't hit myself over the head and drown D B7 And he took out the toilet paper E7 So I couldn't bend the bars, roll out A Bm7 A D The roll the toilet paper out the window D7 Slide down the roll and have an escape G Obie was making sure E7 D And it was about four or five hours later that Alice B7 E7 A Remember Alice? It's a song about Alice D A Bm7 A D B7 Alice came by, and with a few nasty words E7 A To Obie on the side, bailed us out of jail D A Bm7 A And we went back to the church D B7 Had another Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat E7 And didn't get up until the next morning A Bm7 A D When we all had to go to court Verse 9: D7 G We walked in, sat down Obie came in E7 D With the twenty seven eightbyten color glossy pictures B7 With the circles and arrows E7 A And a paragraph on the back of each one D A Bm7 A Sat down D B7 Man came in, said, "All rise" E7 A We all stood up D And Obie stood up A Bm7 A D B7 With the twenty seven eightbyten color glossy pictures And the judge walked in E7 A Sat down with a seeing eye dog Bm7 A D D7 And he sat down, we sat down G Obie looked at the seeing eye dog E7 D B7 E7 And then at the twenty seven eightbyten color glossy pictures A With the circles and arrows D A Bm7 A D And a paragraph on the back of each one B7 And looked at the seeing eye dog E7 A D A Bm7 A D B7 And then at twenty seven eightbyten color glossy pictures With the circles and arrows E7 A Bm7 A And a paragraph on the back of each one, and began to cry D D7 'Cause Obie came to the realization G E7 That it was a typical case of American blind justice D And there wasn't nothing he could do about it B7 And the judge wasn't going to look at E7 A D A Bm7 A The twenty seven eightbyten color glossy pictures D With the circles and arrows B7 E7 And a paragraph on the back of each one A Explaining what each one was D A Bm7 A D To be used as evidence against us B7 E7 And we was fined fifty dollars A Bm7 A And had to pick up the garbage in the snow D D7 G But, that's not what I came to tell you about E7 D B7 Came to talk about the draft Interlude: E7 A D A Bm7 A Verse 10: D B7 They got a buildin' down New York City It's called Whitehall Street E7 A Where you walk in D A Bm7 A D B7 You get injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected, and selected E7 A Bm7 A D D7 G I went down to get my physical examination one day E7 And I walked, in I sat down D B7 Got good and drunk the night before E7 So I looked and felt my best A D A Bm7 When I went in that mornin' A D B7 'Cause I wanted to look like the allAmerican kid From New York City E7 A D A Bm7 Man, I wanted, I wanted to feel like the all A D B7 I wanted to be the allAmerican kid from New York E7 And I walked in, sat down A Bm7 A D I was hung down, brung down, hung up D7 And all kindsa mean, nasty, ugly things G E7 And I walked in and sat down And they gave me a piece of paper Verse 11: D B7 E7 Said, "Kid see the psychiatrist, room 604" A D A Bm7 A D And, and I went up there, I said "Shrink B7 I wanna kill E7 A D A Bm7 A D I mean, I wanna, I wanna kill B7 Kill E7 I wanna, I wanna see A Bm7 A D I wanna see blood and gore and guts, and veins in my teeth D7 G Eat dead, burnt bodies E7 I mean kill D B7 E7 A Kill, kill, kill!" D A Bm7 A D B7 And I started jumpin' up and down yelling, "Kill, kill!" E7 A And he started jumpin' up and down with me D A Bm7 A And we was both jumpin' up and down D B7 Yelling, "Kill, kill!" E7 A And the sergeant came over, pinned a medal on me Bm7 A D Sent me down the hall, said, "You're our boy" D7 G Didn't feel too good about it Verse 12: E7 D Proceeded on down the hall B7 E7 A Getting' more injections, inspections, detections, neglections D A Bm7 A D And all kinds of stuff that they was doin' to me B7 At the thing there E7 A D A Bm7 A And I was there for two hours, three hours, four hours D B7 I was there for a long time E7 Going through all kinds of mean nasty ugly things A Bm7 A D And I was just having a tough time there D7 G E7 And they was inspecting, injecting every single part of me D And they was leaving no part untouched B7 E7 A Proceeded through and I D A Bm7 A D When I finally came to the see the very last man B7 I walked in E7 Walked in, sat down after a whole big thing there And I walked up, and said "What do you want?" Verse 13: He said "Kid we only got one question Have you ever been arrested?" A Bm7 A D B7 And I proceeded to tell him the story of E7 A Alice's Restaurant Massacre D A Bm7 A D With full orchestration and fivepart harmony B7 And stuff like that and all the phenome... E7 "Stop it right there" And said "Kid, did you ever go to court?" A Bm7 A D B7 And I proceeded to tell him the story of E7 A D The twenty seven eightbyten color glossy pictures A Bm7 A With the circles and arrows D B7 And a paragraph on the back of each one E7 And, "Stop it right there", and said "Kid I want you to go over and sit down on that bench That says 'Group W' Now kid!" Interlude: A Bm7 A D B7 Verse 14: E7 A D A Bm7 And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there A D And there is, there is Group W's where they B7 Where they put you E7 If you may not be moral enough to To join the army A Bm7 A After committing your special crime, and D D7 There was all kinds of mean nasty, ugly lookin' people On the bench there G Mother rapers E7 Father stabbers D Father rapers! B7 Father rapers E7 A Sittin' right there on the bench next to me! D A Bm7 A And, one They was D B7 mean and nasty and ugly and horrible E7 A Crimetype guys just sitting there on the bench D A Bm7 A D And the meanest ugliest nastiest one B7 The meanest father raper of them all E7 Was coming over to me A Bm7 A D And he was mean 'n' ugly 'n' nasty 'n' horrible And all kind of things D7 G And he sat down next to me and said E7 D "Kid, whad'ya get?" B7 E7 I said, "I didn't get nothing A D A Bm7 A D I had to pay fifty dollars, and pick up the garbage" B7 E7 He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?" A D A Bm7 A And I said, "Litterin'" D B7 E7 And they all moved away from me on the bench there A Bm7 A D And the hairy eyeball, and all kinds of mean nasty things D7 'Til I said, "And creatin' a nuisance" G E7 And they all came back, shook my hand D And we had a great time on the bench B7 E7 Talkin' about crime, mother stabbing, father raping A D A Bm7 A All kinds of groovy things that we was talking about D On the bench Verse 15: B7 And everything was fine E7 A We was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of things D A Bm7 A Until the sergeant came over D B7 E7 Had some paper in his hand A Bm7 A Held it up and said "Kids D Thispieceofpaper'sgot fourty seven wordsthirty seven sentences Fifty eightwordswewannaknowdetailsofthecrime Timeofthecrimeandanyotherkindofthing Yougottasaypertainingtoandaboutthecrime Iwanttoknowarrestingofficer'snameand A Bm7 Anyotherkindofthingyougottasay" A D And he talked for fourty five minutes B7 E7 A And nobody understood a word that he said But D A Bm7 A we had fun filling out the forms D B7 And playing with the pencils on the bench there E7 And I filled out the massacre A Bm7 A D With the fourpart harmony D7 And wrote it down there just like it was G And everything was fine E7 And I put down the pencil D B7 And I turned over the piece of paper E7 And, and there A Bm7 A D D7 There on the other side G E7 In the middle of the other side D B7 E7 A D A Bm7 A Away from everything else on the other side D B7 E7 A In parentheses D A Bm7 A D Capital letters B7 E7 Quotated A Bm7 A D Read the following words D7 G E7 D B7 "Kid, have you rehabilitated yourself?" Verse 16: E7 A D A I went over to the sergeant, and said Bm7 A D "Sergeant, you got a lot a damn gall B7 E7 A To ask me if I've rehabilitated myself I mean D A Bm7 A I mean D B7 E7 I mean, I'm just, I'm sitting here on the bench A Bm7 A D I mean, I'm sitting here on the Group W bench D7 G E7 'Cause you wanna know if I'm moral enough D B7 To join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages E7 A After being a litterbug D A Bm7 A D B7 He looked at me, and said, "Kid E7 A D A Bm7 A We don't like your kind D B7 And we're gonna send you fingerprints off to Washington" E7 A Bm7 A D And friends, somewhere in Washington D7 Enshrined in some little folder G E7 D Is a study in black and white of my fingerprints Verse 17: B7 E7 A D A Bm7 A And the only reason I'm singing you this song now Is 'cause you may know D B7 somebody in a similar situation E7 A D A Bm7 A D Or you may be in a similar situation B7 And if you're in a situation like that E7 There's only one thing you can do A Bm7 A D Is walk in to the shrink wherever you are D7 G Just walk in, say "Shrink E7 D B7 E7 A D A Bm7 You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant" And walk out A D B7 E7 A You know if one person, just one person does it D A Bm7 A D They may think he's really sick and they won't take him B7 E7 A Bm7 A D And if two people, two people do it In harmony D7 G They may think they're both xxxxxxx E7 And they won't take either of them D B7 E7 A And if three people do it D A Bm7 A D B7 Three, can you imagine three people walking in? E7 A D A Bm7 Singin' a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out A D They may think it's an organization B7 E7 A Bm7 A And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day D I said fifty people a day D7 G E7 Walking in, singin' a bar of Alice's Restaurant, and walking out D And friends, they may think it's a movement B7 And that's what it is E7 A D A Bm7 A D The Alice's Restaurant AntiMassacre Movement B7 And all you got to do to join E7 A D A Bm7 A Is to sing it the next time it comes around on the guitar D B7 With feelin' E7 A Bm7 A D So, we'll wait 'til it comes around on the guitar here D7 And sing it when it does Interlude: G E7 D Verse 18: B7 Here it comes E7 A D A Bm7 A D B7 E7 A D A Bm7 A You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant D B7 E7 A Bm7 A You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant D D7 Walk right in, it's around the back G E7 Just a half a mile from the railroad track D B7 E7 A D A Bm7 A And you can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant Verse 19: D That was horrible B7 E7 A D A Bm7 A D If you want to end war and stuff you gotta sing loud B7 E7 I could put a lot... A Bm7 A D I been singing this song now for twenty five minutes D7 G I could sing it for another twenty five minutes E7 D I'm not proud B7 E7 A Or tired D A Bm7 A D So we'll wait 'til it comes around again and B7 E7 A This time with fourpart harmony and feelin' D A Bm7 A D B7 E7 We're just waitin' for it to come around Is what we're doing Interlude: A Bm7 A D D7 G E7 D Verse 20: B7 E7 A All right now D A Bm7 A D B7 E7 A D You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant A Bm7 A Excepting Alice D B7 E7 A Bm7 You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant A D D7 I said walk right in it's around the back G E7 Just a half a mile from the railroad track D B7 E7 A D And you can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant Outro: A Bm7 A E7 Da da da da da da da dum A Bm7 A D A D At Alice's Restaurant
Alice’s Restaurant Massacree chords by Arlo Guthrie
This arrangement is the original work of its contributor and represents their personal interpretation of the song. It is shared for private study, education, and non-commercial use only. The underlying song, lyrics, and music remain the property of their respective copyright owners. To request removal of any content, see our Legal & Copyright page.
How was this arrangement?
Your rating helps other players find the best arrangements
This arrangement is the original work of its contributor and represents their personal interpretation of the song. It is shared for private study, education, and non-commercial use only. The underlying song, lyrics, and music remain the property of their respective copyright owners. This arrangement was downloaded for free on UkuTabs.com.
Join the discussion
2 comments
2 Comments
Most Voted
