Thanks, Sean. :) :) You're sending me into tearful nostalgia. Woodstock! It changed many of us. Of those days, Dickens would have said: 'It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.' The 60s! We were reeling from disaster to disaster...Yes! Someone had walked on the Moon but it made Peace on Earth look even more impossible! And suddenly, against all odds, Woodstock happened! A whole young generation started to believe again in peace, and in loving one and all. The beautiful voice of Joan Baez flooded the airwaves the next day she sang "We shall overcome", on the first night of the Festival.
I don't know about Europe but here, in USA and Canada, many young people, everywhere, were instantly, magically connected with the young people attending Woodstock. It wasn't a hippie drug festival as some older people described it then. It was a love-in. It was: We all belong together. It was: WE SHALL OVERCOME SOMEDAY...We shall be alright...We shall live in Peace...We are not afraid...WE SHALL OVERCOME!
I made serious, huge life-changing decisions following Woodstock. And (on the lighter side) I adopted the free style dressing of Joan Baez. No more high heels, no more white gloves, no more British protocol for this Foreign Officer's wife.....Never again!
Powerful memories. Difficult times. Grateful for survival and full recovery.
Jams, even the blind hen would (sometimes) find a corn. :)
Claudia, thanks for sharing your memories. Unfortunately (?), Woodstock did not touch me, at all. I was 15, not keen of music, but of football (soccer), athletics and ... :) Of Joan Baez aware I came some years later ...
jmb, thanks for reminding me of that my record player needs to get a little repair. :) Yes, some of us have advanced since ... and yes: there are still lots to overcome.
An excellent find Sean!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sean. :) :)
ReplyDeleteYou're sending me into tearful nostalgia. Woodstock! It changed many of us. Of those days, Dickens would have said: 'It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.' The 60s! We were reeling from disaster to disaster...Yes! Someone had walked on the Moon but it made Peace on Earth look even more impossible! And suddenly, against all odds, Woodstock happened! A whole young generation started to believe again in peace, and in loving one and all. The beautiful voice of Joan Baez flooded the airwaves the next day she sang "We shall overcome", on the first night of the Festival.
I don't know about Europe but here, in USA and Canada, many young people, everywhere, were instantly, magically connected with the young people attending Woodstock. It wasn't a hippie drug festival as some older people described it then. It was a love-in. It was: We all belong together. It was: WE SHALL OVERCOME SOMEDAY...We shall be alright...We shall live in Peace...We are not afraid...WE SHALL OVERCOME!
I made serious, huge life-changing decisions following Woodstock. And (on the lighter side) I adopted the free style dressing of Joan Baez. No more high heels, no more white gloves, no more British protocol for this Foreign Officer's wife.....Never again!
Powerful memories. Difficult times. Grateful for survival and full recovery.
Goodness me. How much she improved over the years.
ReplyDeleteShe was the one who inspired me to learn the guitar and take up folk singing in my early thirties.
I still have all her records but no record player, all replaced by CDs, even mp3 files.
Still lots to overcome but there have been advances since then, sometimes one step forward then two back, but we are advancing, or I have to think so.
Jams,
ReplyDeleteeven the blind hen would (sometimes) find a corn. :)
Claudia,
thanks for sharing your memories.
Unfortunately (?), Woodstock did not touch me, at all. I was 15, not keen of music, but of football (soccer), athletics and ... :)
Of Joan Baez aware I came some years later ...
jmb,
thanks for reminding me of that my record player needs to get a little repair. :)
Yes, some of us have advanced since ... and yes: there are still lots to overcome.