Woodstock: 3 Days and 40 Years Later

With this weekend marking the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, the VH1 music channel will be airing a new documentary, 'Woodstock: Now and Then' by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple. The documentary premieres Friday, Aug. 14th at 9 pm on VH1 and VH1 Classic, and will be repeated Monday, Aug. 17th at 8 pm on the History Channel. It should be interesting to not only look back at this historic event, but also to see exactly how those 3 days of peace and music continue to influence this present generation.

And since this weekend is the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at just how much this country has changed since the days of the peace and love hippie generation. (I highly suggest playing these YouTube videos in the background as you read on)

Woodstock was a 3 day event held in upstate New York on the property of local dairy farmer Max Yasgur just outside the little town of Bethel from August 15 to August 17, 1969. At the time, no one knew that Woodstock would be anything more than a 3 day concert featuring some of the most socially and politically conscious musicians of the day. Close to 186,000 tickets were sold for the event. Nearly 500,000 people showed up.

Those in attendance, fueled by drugs and covered in mud, tripping on acid and grooving to the vibe of peace and love, became the focal point of their generation. Woodstock became a beacon of social awareness for an entire generation and a high water mark for future generations to come. Woodstock was a cosmic event that was never duplicated (even though there were imitations - a mostly insignificant 1994 concert and yet another disastrous attempt in 1999). Fortunately, the original event was well documented, and the excellent film 'Woodstock: Three Days of Peace and Music' is proof that the hippie dream was once alive and well.

The hippie generation was birthed in the 60s, a volatile time in this nation's history. The country was experiencing radical social, sexual and political changes, fueled by civil unrest, the recent assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, and most specifically, the unpopular Vietnam war. As the young people of the day began to realize that they could stand up for themselves and speak out against what they viewed as an unpopular war, more and more kids began to realize that it was okay to speak up and speak out against the intolerance and injustices of the day. Plus, growing your hair long was a great way to piss off your parents!

But, like the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The love generation eventually gave way to the disco generation, and the psychedelic drugs led to too many psychotics who burned out and became a drag on society. Hard to imagine that painting your face with pink and green flowers - which obviously seemed like such a good idea at the time - wouldn't really change the world. And so, the bright flame of peace and music that shone so brightly during Woodstock still occasionally flickers without somehow ever quite burning out completely. Long time gone, but still not forgotten.

And now, 40 years later, if ever there was a time to tune in, turn on and drop out, it might be now. This country is struggling and could definitely use another love revolution. After getting the tables knocked out from under us last year with a plummeting stock market, families losing their homes thanks to greedy bankers promoting unregulated sub-prime mortgages, shady corporate CEOs ripping off half the country, while the Bernie Madoffs of the land ripped off the other half, 'Don't trust anyone over 30' might not be such bad advice after all.

And as the country continues to reel under this recession, we now find ourselves divided straight down the middle between the Republicans on one very far end, and the Democrats on the other, debating over the need for health care for all Americans. (Really? This is even a debate?!)

I'm sort of surprised that the young people of today aren't getting fed up and taking a stand. "You guys are screwing up this country! Let's all come up with a better plan, can we please?!" And yet, the youth of the day just seems jaded and uninterested. As long as there are new iPhone apps to buy and keep them occupied, I guess the radical behavior will have to be handled by the octogenarian lynch mobs now appearing at your local town hall meetings.

At this point, I do think it's going to take a radical step forward out of this mess the current generation has gotten us into (both sides to blame). And it will have to be from the next generation that is hopefully not hooked on the mantra, 'Greed is good'. No, greed is bad. It nearly destroyed our country.

Maybe it's all in the timing. The young people of this generation don't have the benefit of living in a time when the music was fresh and unique and powerful and spoke to them in such a way that they'd like to help make the world a better place.  "We can change the world." Stephen Stills sang, and the kids of the day believed him. Nowadays, I guess it seems like this generation is content with just "riding the storm out".

Fortunately we live in a groovy time of streaming music and YouTube videos and Woodstock DVDs to remind us that such a time once existed. "Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music Director's Cut (40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition with Amazon Exclusive Bonus Disc)" was released in June of this year. Obviously, there's still a desire to go back in time and remember what happened 40 years ago, when the times were tough, the future looked uncertain, but a group of kids got together to celebrate the idea that the road ahead could just possibly be made to be a groovy place filled with peace and love and music.