Music’s having a party! Forty, that pivotal year of reinvention, of re-evaluation, of introspection, is being commemorated by one of the most historical concert experiences. Four decades have come and gone since Woodstock’s four day gathering celebrating peace, love and music at a New York dairy farm.
The art of music intrigues me. Songs are distinct artistic renderings, sound paintings which depict stories, visions, emotion. To me, live music is the best music, because it is visual as well as aural. Concerts are exhibitions of the masters, music as their medium, the stage their canvas. Watching an acclaimed performance parallels watching van Gogh create Starry Night, or Renoir sitting at his easel.
And so each song is a gift, a painting in our lives, summoning the image of when we first heard it, or a special moment for which it provides the soundtrack. Billy Joel’s Just the Way You Are might evoke a wedding day; Stevie Nicks’ "Edge of Seventeen" brings us back to carefree summers at a favorite beach. So many songs trigger a memory, an era, a feeling. A Hendrix or Creedence or Who song can bring a generation back to the Woodstock era. Music on the radio, television, concerts, defines a piece of us. It chronicles where we came from, what we love.
But it was only Woodstock which brought together a half million people, under adverse conditions, in peace. And Woodstock’s profound ability to reach out, unite, and inspire peace through music was due in large part to the bands that took the stage on a farm in Bethel, New York forty years ago. Music was the draw; without it, a half million people would not have gathered there, on that weekend, with the world watching.
In celebrating Woodstock, the unprecedented 1969 concert extravaganza, let’s celebrate the music. This August, when you hear a favorite song and are transported to a moment in your life, give a thought to the many artists who forty years ago came together with nearly 500,000 fans.
Give a thought to the power of music. What song paints a memory for you?
