This list was originally about 40 songs long, and didn’t include the letters X and Z. My Amazon and Spotify playlists let me down so I was forced to delve further into the internet. I’ve no doubt that if I played to this my friends and family, they’d know it was mine.
I used the same parameters as Chris did. I went off the songs on my iPod. These aren’t necessarily my 26 favourite songs, but songs that have some sort of meaning to me… some enough so that they have remained on my playlist for over 25 years.
Every year for as long as I can remember, I have listened to Arlo Guthrie’s classic “Alice’s Restaurant,” either on the day before or day of Thanksgiving. It’s something that my parents had started at some point and, more to the point, it’s a tradition I have continued since moving out of the house (to my father’s joy), even when I’m not spending Thanksgiving with them.
Now before I get into the song, and there’s a lot to get into, let’s talk about this tradition. As traditions go, it’s hardly odd, and there’s a part of me that wonders why I don’t encounter more people who share this tradition.