Woodstock happened once.

Freedom...freedom...freedom...freedom...

.
Simply put, Woodstock happened once.

3 days when 400,000 hearts strummed the same

chords of peace and love, away from authority,

away from their parents, away from the world.  

.

It rained, babies were born, pearly gates opened,

food and clothing fell from the sky;

rockstars were born, freeways were closed

and long hair waved like an ocean of ships

on a current of different values.  

.

Among hundreds of thousands,

magic was real in a temporary grass city.

An emerald city.  

.

From the mud they squirmed like worms;

from their minds they flew like birds.  

.

On Yasgur's Farm, star-spangled freak flags were flown

by kids who dropped needles

on LPs, not bombs on the Vietnamese.  

.

They arrived from muddy brick roads

and tore down fences to get in.

It was a different kind of music,

a different kind of vibe.

The different kind of atmosphere

in the space of non-materialism.  

.

Simply put: Woodstock happened once.

Anything after that was the opposite

of the whole point,

and was granted by the great Oz of greed.

Author's Note

One night while standing at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City, a black man walked by me and said hello as he strolled up to the stairs. It was Ritchie Havens, the man who opened Woodstock with his performance of freedom. On a side note: My mother was there, I wasn't. :)
I once had a blue acrylic peace sign I hung in my bass drum when I was eight. Someone stole it. Damn ass*&$#*

Reviews

[barleygirl]

You capture this with killer memory-reeling details. I totally get what you're saying. Its similar with the west coast phenomenon "Burning Man" which started out being novel & organic, a desolate desert gathering. Now it's so freakin' commercialized, it takes a whole year (every year) to plan the construction of a huge metropolis in the desert. In my opinion, commercialization kills everything that starts with high spirit & originality! You got your point across loud & clear! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Relic]

Thanks, Margie. :)

[Einstein Noodle]

oh my goodness Relic!!! how fortunate for you to meet Richie Havens in his natural habitat ... i love his style and music .. "Freedom" rocked Yasgurs Farm .. my other favorite of his is his rendition of "Here Comes the Sun" ... i think i was standing next to your mom :)))))))))))))))))
your poem is spectacular says i .. it was once and only once ... love the worms in mud and minds like birds .. your poem does not sugar coat the event .. which for me makes this especially strong .. there were some bad guys there too ... not many .. and incidents did not get the press ... i treasure my short memories of Woodstock and your poem to go right with it .. into me ol' library it goes ... and the greed has definitely won out .. and the mood .. is not the same .. other issues are in the fore .. a whole generation disconnected from baby boomers and Woodstock ... and we have changed too .. many of us any way .... even Abbie Hoffman put a suit and tie on ... for a while anyway :( well written .. smooth as sharp social commentary allows .. i would not change one single thing Relic .. and you should send this to a newspaper in whatever town may eventually allow the alleged 50th to occur .. well done!
E
ps. are you still playing drums??

[Relic]

Thanks very much, Einstein for the great comment. I wish I could have been there. And yes, I started playing when I was very young and still do. :)

[Einstein Noodle]

I played a trap set in HS 1964-'67 .. for the famous "Midnight Walkers" ;))))))))))))))))) sold those Ludwigs as a senior and bought a Harley ... peace out!

[Samuel Dickens]

Very well put. These words do justice to that awesome and unparalleled happening. So cool that your mother was there. I was stationed at Cecil Field Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Fla when it took place. (Saw reports on the news) Even though I was in the military, my heart was with the hippies. Oh, how I wanted to wear long hair and bell bottoms! And the music of that era, the music that was played that weekend was beyond fantastic. To this day, I love to watch clips of Richie Havens, Santana, CSN, Alvin Lee and others do their thing. Although they try, there was and only ever will be, one Woodstock.

[Relic]

Thanks so much for the positive message, Sam.

[Karmee]

This is so good, I enjoyed this

[Relic]

I'm glad it did, thanks, Korin.

You're new? Welcome.
Not new, Welcome back. :)

[Karmee]

been here for a while. My old writing name was Kixxer/Kixx

[Relic]

Ah, no wonder why. Well, I'm glad to see you writing again. I wish you luck, you're very good.

[Aurora]

This is such a cool ballad, if you ask me, about Woodstock. What a cult it created, where the free-folk could come up to this plane, live, sing and breeze away from the social constraints. You've revived such a time!

[Relic]

I appreciate your thoughts, Aurora. Thanks. :)

[Eugi]

I wish I could have been there. It was definitely a different kind of vibe - one that changed music forever. Thank you for sharing the memories! Rock on!

[Relic]

Thanks very much for reading, Eugi.

[Eugi]

My pleasure!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

so many hall of fame rock stars...
so neat that your mother was there...and that you met Ritchie Havens....he was great...
my second ex lived not far from there and worked at a diner down the road, but said she really didn't want to go with all the craziness and crowds...if i were that close, i wouldn't have missed it.
you bring it alive for us in this poem...i saw the film of it when it came out...a year later.
Peace and Love...
thanks for this poem, Tim.
Rock on...it would be great to talk to your mom about it...imagine what she could write about it...did she ever?

[Relic]

My mother died 19 years ago. She only mentioned that she didn't like Hendrix's version of star spangled banner. haha She was into politics, maybe that had something to do with it. :) Thanks, J.

[Chris Shaw]

I remember it well and wished I was there. Everybody wishes they'd experienced that wonderful love in, never to be forgotten. We have our own Reading Rock taking place this weekend in a glorious setting in a two mile stretch along the Thames. Only 100,000 in comparison to the 400, 000 at Woodstock. All so far going really well. No trouble, mainly youngsters. And we are in the marina and benefitting from the music wafting through the ether. Times have changed. Not so much peace and love these days but we live in hope. Music unites. Great write Tim. Thank you for the nostalgia trip.Enjoyed your author notes as well as the poem.

Chris

[Relic]

Thanks very much, Chris. Hope all goes well.

[The Analog Kid]

TIm, I started to leave a nice long comment and this fu*&(^% site kicked me out and I lost it..RRRRRHHH! Maybe I'll try again later :(

[Relic]

The site has a lot of problems. Have you noticed the spam. Charlie needs to do something. Thanks for the attempt.

[The Analog Kid]

Sure man. He probably doesn't care and makes money off the ads. Have a good rest of the weekend.

[Relic]

I've had an x sitting in the right bottom corner of each page I go to for months. I asked him if he could take it off and even sent him a screen grab of it. I'm still waiting. It's such a pain I don't want to come here as much.

[The Analog Kid]

I know. He has to be getting revenue or he would shut it down completely. It's always been the site that almost was the best writing site with all it's functionality, but always crapped out just when I needed it.

[John the Baptist]

The last half of the 60's was a wild time, and Woodstock was emblematic of it. I wasn't there, but I have seen a clip of Joe Cocker's rendition of "With a Little Help From My Friends" during the festival.The dude was so wasted he could barely get the words out. Still makes me laugh.

[Relic]

Ha, yes I'm familiar with his rendition. He had a good time and made a big name for himself though, didn't he? ha Thanks.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

bluesiest white singer ever....he could belt them out.

[Relic]

ha, more bluesy than Greg Allman? :)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i like Greg Allman..but yes...the bluesiest for me...