Intrigued by the counterculture tale of Arlo Guthrie's epic 1968 talking-blues record The Alice's Restaurant Massacree, director Arthur Penn, co-scripting with playwright Venable Herndon, adapted the song into the 1969 feature Alice's Restaurant.
Once went to a friend's family for Thanksgiving dinner where they played the Alice's Restaurant Massacree song (in a moment of silence) as a yearly tradition before eating.