Woodstock 1969
I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, where are you going
And this he told me
I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm
I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band
I'm going to camp out on the land
I'm going to try an' get my soul free
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden...
Woodstock Joni Mitchell
I was in my mid-teens when the Woodstock music festival took place over several days on a farmer's field in New York State. I vaguely remember being slightly scandalized by what we were hearing about what happened there -- sex, drugs and rock n roll -- even though I was a huge rock fan and had long hair that my old man hated. Fifty years later we watched the PBS documentary about an event which attracted more young people (400,000) than the population of Iceland despite an eye-opening lack of organization or infrastructure. This largely peace-loving throng hung out in the rain and mud to listen to some amazing bands, including some such as Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash which weren't really established in the public eye until Woodstock. We're ancient enough that we eventually heard CS &Y at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Woodstock Album Cover Shot (this couple is still together!)
We decided that the farmer whose land was used, Max Yasgur, was a saint, and the residents of nearby communities were amazingly generous. One reminisced that the bible encourages Christians to "welcome the stranger." so they did. Where did that America go?
The quintessential Woodstock song was written by someone who wasn't there, Canadian Joni Mitchell. Her song speaks of stardust, and getting back to the land and the garden, which is a modestly biblical image. It speaks of simplicity, and wonder, and a sense of the world around us. It's strange, don't you think, that this hippy, anti-establishment generation, myself included, ended up what may be the most affluent and planet-destroying crowd in the history of the planet. We Baby Boomers "sold out to the man" without being aware of our entitlement, and now the Earth is paying the price.
Perhaps the 50th anniversary of Woodstock can be more than nostalgia. We really do need to humbly return to the Garden of the Creator in ways which will ensure the well-being of all creatures half a century from now.
Listen to CSN&Y Woodstock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrWNTqbLFFE
Joni Mitchell Woodstock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRjQCvfcXn0
The Yasgurs
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