Woodstock

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that for four days nearly half a million people built their own little nation, established their own cultural rules and survived living in markedly difficult conditions, for the most part with good grace. The author points out that, in spite of a lack of sanitary facilities, food and clean water and in spite of a lot of drug use, there were only two deaths (and two births) at the Woodstock concert. The paper relates that the variety of types of music and kinds of performers brought together at Woodstock was reflected in the diversity of the audience, creating a watershed moment where an entire generation became empowered around issues of dissatisfaction with the status quo, civil rights and a rapidly growing peace movement.

From the Paper:

"Sha-Na-Na and Creedence Clearwater Revival were two groups who were opposites in many ways. Sha-Na-Na played their late fifties hit "At the Hop," which had no message at all except "Let's go to the hop!" while Creedence Clearwater Revival sang songs about bullfrogs who shared their wine with others. In the song, it didn't matter that the two people sharing the wine couldn't communicate. They just enjoyed each other's company at whatever level they could. It was an interesting image for Woodstock, where people had to deal with rain and mud, and shared what they had with each other while actively ignoring differences such as race or class."

More papers on Woodstock:

• Analytical Essay # 145388 : "Reverberations of Woodstock and Altamont"
• Essay # 27943 : "Woodstock '99 in Rome, New York"
• Analytical Essay # 86710 : "Thomas of Woodstock in "Richard II"

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