Fifty Years Ago
Fifty always seemed like a huge, distant number when
referring to age. Now that that number has been in my rear view mirror for more
than ten years, fifty still seems huge. Only now, it is a distant digit
referring to events from my youth.
The OMG moment for many Boomers is verbalized with “that
happened FIFTY years ago?”
The youngest Boomers are now 55 years old, so they/you were
5 in 1969. They/you probably don’t remember much from that year. But the oldest
Boomers were 23, just really starting a life and maybe a family. Your memories
from fifty years ago are probably quite vivid. Or hazy, depending on your
recreational habits at that time.
I am between those two mileposts, so my memories of 1969 are
clear. But I still can’t believe that was fifty years ago.
So what happened in 1969?
Without doing any of my usual research for this blog, I can
tell you from memory that two very significant historical events happened that
year: Woodstock and the moon landing.
Neil Armstrong took one small step for man the night of July
20th, becoming the first of only twelve humans to walk on the moon. It’s hard
to believe that was fifty years ago and equally hard to believe that nobody has
been back in forty seven years.
Woodstock took place in August of 1969. Promoters had no
idea that a half million music fans would show up. Performers included
already-legendary artists like Jimi Hendrix and Santana and launched the
careers of soon-to-be-legends like Joe Cocker and Crosby Stills &
Nash.
Some Boomers are stuck in the decade that ended fifty years
ago. It’s a comfortable place. Music, movies and other cultural and historical
of that era are familiar in an increasingly unfamiliar world.
I claim to NOT be stuck in my past. I am lucky that I work
in a culture-based business around people half my age. It keeps me young in
many ways. I know who Drake is (but I don’t like his music) and I know who Dua
Lipa is (and I DO like her music).
But I do admit that sometimes I wrap myself in the comfy
blanket of the past and crank up “Honky Tonk Women” or “Proud Mary”, two of the
top 20 songs of 1969. Or mix and match technology and culture and watch
Santana’s “Soul Sacrifice” from the Woodstock movie on my iPhone.
Fifty years. What a long strange trip it’s been.
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