Like the original Thanksgiving story, the song is set (at least in part) in Massachusetts. It was based on an actual incident that occurred in Stockbridge on Thanksgiving 1965. And it was actually a restaurateur named Alice: Alice Brock, who died on Thursday at the age of 83 in a hospice in Wellfleet.

For those who haven’t heard the song yet: We don’t want to give away the plot of the story it tells. This includes trash, 8×10 photos, the Vietnam War – and of course, an unbeatable Thanksgiving meal. Rummage through moldy old records at a deceased hippie’s estate sale and you’re likely to find a copy of the 1967 LP, which features Guthrie naked except for a hat and bib.

After becoming a cult classic, the song became an unwelcome burden for Brock — even if she eventually came to terms with its legacy. It’s now a staple on Thanksgiving radio stations – because what else are they going to play?

Guthrie’s song also became a popular anti-war song and the locations mentioned in it have become unofficial historical landmarks in Stockbridge. (Guthrie eventually bought the church in the song.)

After she closed her restaurant – which was actually called Back Room – Brock operated two other restaurants in the Berkshires and then moved to Provincetown in the late 1970s.

“I rented a small apartment by the water with a shoebox full of coins and started drawing and painting. I was in heaven,” she wrote of her arrival in Provincetown. She spent the rest of her life there as an artist and ran a gallery.

Since news of her death, most tributes have focused on what the song is: funny, sometimes biting, catchy.

But equally noteworthy and appreciative is what “Alice’s Restaurant” is not. It’s not cheesy. It’s not smooth. It wasn’t exactly commercial either, way too long to be played on the radio every day except today.

In other words, it’s in keeping with the anti-consumerist spirit of Thanksgiving. Brock may never have intended to inspire millions of people’s holiday soundtrack. But she did, and the holiday is all the better for it.

Editorials reflect the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us @GlobeOpinion.