Monday Lesson From History

Pete Townsend of The Who takes flight

Fifty years ago, specifically August 15 through August 18 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was held in the Catskills near Bethel, New York.  For five decades the American people have had this event crammed down its collective throat.  This concert has been hailed in songs, films, books, and magazines as a pivotal moment in the history of not only music but also politics and pretty all aspects of popular culture.   No doubt it represented a significant event as it featured many legendary acts of the 1960s, including The Who, Jimi Hendrix and The Band. 

But it is important in 2019 to realize that Woodstock should teach us that nothing is forever, times change and culture moves on. Hearing about Woodstock for the past fifty years has been exhausting.  It has been held up as an almost religious experience, an essential event in the understanding of America’s post World War II history.   Please.  Remember it for what it was, and move on.  And finally it seems that has happened. For a country that lives for sentimentalism, a concert to celebrate Woodstock’s fiftieth anniversary seemed to be a no brainer. But sadly, no.  Attempts to pull off a festival in its honor failed, due to mismanagement, poor planning and general lack of interest.  The lesson here is that no matter how important you think something is, that feeling will fade with time.  So simply enjoy it for what it was, and now maybe we can move on.