Friday, August 14, 2009

Old age ain't for sissies!

Okay, folks. It's the 40th (?!!?) anniversary of Woodstock. And I'm here watching a Neil Diamond concert. That's just WRONG.

I like Neil -- but Woodstock was the real music of my generation. And something of a harbinger of sorts -- horribly planned (who knew??) and marginally executed, it still stands as a monument to peace, love and awesome music.

I have heard the GenX and subsequent generations mock the "drug crazed hippies". But that's the job of subsequent generations isn't it? To mock their elders. But there was so much more to the Woodstock Generations than acid and free love.

We questioned the powers that be. We challenged the status quo. We held ideals sacred.

Then we grew up.

10 comments:

  1. LOL ....Neil Diamond!

    http://classicrock.about.com/library/quiz/woodstock/bl_woodstock_quiz.htm

    here is one of those trivia quizzes on Woodstock. I got wrong three of the 10: the political activist, the number of births and the band who demanded to be paid up front.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love Neil Diamond! I think I Am I Said is my favorite song of his.

    Hey! You have a new profile photo! Nice to see your smile, but I liked the other one, too!

    I got 50% right on the quiz. I was just guessing most of them!

    Here's my take on the 60s and drugs. I think it started out with some innocence and belief that it would create some sort of enlightenment. The music inspired fans to be socially active and try to make the world better. As the 70s and subsequent decades progressed, it became more about hedonism and the me generation. I still think there are people in younger generations that care and want to make a difference in the world. But our culture is so commercialized and geared to instant gratification that the majority of people aren't that way anymore.

    And that's why we feel so nostalgic about Woodstock. We wish we could get back to that in some way.

    Just my two cents!

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Idealistic" is another word that comes to mind in this regard.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree -- the "Woodstock Generation" was very idealistic, which somehow devolved into the "WIIFM Generations" that followed. (What's In It For Me).

    It would be interesting to see Obama follow JFK's lead in ginning up a fervor for public service (not politics...real public service like VISTA and the Peace Corps and Habitat for Humanity.)

    Don't see it yet, but maybe eventually...my nieces give me hope for the future.

    I just don't have a clue what would inspire most of today's kids to dig in and get their hands dirty though.

    (PS -- I got a 50% too -- shoring up my belief that if you can remember Woodstock, you definitely weren't around then).

    ReplyDelete
  5. I came here to post my favorite Neil Diamond song. I think i would go with "Kentucky Woman" and "I'm a Believer".

    I wish they made a 13th grade in public schools and the 13th grade would be volunteering only, i.e. Habitat, Paint (your City) Beautiful etc. And you don't graduate high school unless you show up and demonstrate a desire to give back, so if you want to go to college you must fulfill this obligation.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love that idea!

    And my favorite Diamond is...wait for it...Sweet Caroline!

    You were expecting maybe...??

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the idea of that 13th grade, jo - it's brilliant!

    I'd like to see Neil Diamond in concert.

    ReplyDelete
  8. oh and my fave ND song is 'Girl you'll be a Woman soon' -
    though it does make me think Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction lol - what a nutzy cokehead!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love I'm a Believer, Both Sides Now, Song Sung Blue, & Sweet Caroline

    I watched a Woodstock documentary on VH1 last weekend that was very interesting. I was only 6 at the time, so I don't remember much about it.

    ReplyDelete