I want to be a hippy. Seriously, I definitely think I could have been an ideal fit into the summer of 1967, San Francisco -- the Summer of Love. This year is the 40th anniversary of what began as a Vietnam War protest of sorts. Combine that with all of the social challenges that we faced in the 1960s-1970s....people coming of age, trying to find themselves, hanging loose, being cool, promoting social causes. It was the original "Peace Out" that is experiencing a regain in popularity today. And what better of a time to promote peace?
Au Naturale: I would love to have spent my summer in the parks of San Francisco, barefoot, colorful beads hanging around my neck, skipping showers because I either didn't have a place to take one or didn't care, and saying "Screw the deodorant." Who needed it anyway? Long as we had plenty of patchouli, we're all set. And no razors! No shaving allowed....for boys or girls. And, yes kids, this was long before manscaping. It's all good.....and it was then, too.
There was long, messy hair (which I'm a fan of) and drugs (some of which I may be a fan of if I weren't subject to random drug testing....and, no, I'm not advocating drug abuse). And who could resist the temptation of tripping around the city or country in a VW van with a bunch of buddies -- never knowing where we were going to end up when the sun closed out each day. Happy, wind blowing in your hair, and I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing blaring on the AM (actually, it didn't gain popularity until 1969-1971, but the feeling was definitely gaining momentum). October 1967 premiered the musical Hair which featured Good Morning Starshine and, one of my favorites, Age of Aquarius. The dawn of the wild sexual revolution was in full swing and I think it would have been groovy to be a part of it. I mean, can you dig it, man?
I started first grade at the end of the Summer of Love. I think, even then, that I was a wild free spirit....trying to make its way out of this scrawny white boy's body. Trying to figure out what it really meant to live all together, in peace and harmony, with flowers in my hair. (That should have been someone's first clue.) I'm not even sure the hippy is totally out yet.
18 comments:
Ditto. Although I'd still need a shower. Hey! What about 'sandalwood?' Wasn't that one of the hippie groove scents, too?
I always wanted to be Janis Joplin. Maybe it was her hair. And the beads. And the granny glasses. And the elephant bell bottoms. And the rings. Yep. All good.
Sorry, pumpkin. I was 1-1/2 then. Although I freely admit I was born 10 years too late, I still wouldn't have been old enough for this.
And I still don't care for the drugs, but I make no judgments on others.
I was born in the fall of 67. Out of all the time periods in history, I've always had a connection to what has been described as the summer of love.
let's celebrate, i'll bring the bong!!! lol!!!
Well...........I was in that generation, and it was great!
The BEST times, the BEST music,
AND the best time for our country!
my understanding is there are no lack of hippie wannabes tripping through SanFransisco, so go for it
Groovy.
I quite often see Hippies roaming the streets here in our fabulous city and the first thing I want to do is throw a bucket of water over them, followed by a bottle of LICE shampoo, then attack the whole birds nest with the garden shears, that is of course if I could hack getting so close to the body odour that is screaming putrid & peeling the paint of the walls. I am far from the modern metrosexual, lip glossing wearing fashion queen but Puuur-lease...... the whole not showering, wearing the same clothes everyday whilst being off your face & the planet 24/7 driving around in a VW Combi that is so trashed you could grow anthrax is just not appealing. And women who didn't shave....I was walking to my job interview the other day and as I approached this heavy set woman standing acroos the street I was tossing back & forth whether it might have been in fact a man...She has more than enough stubble on her chin to force me into intimidation. The only part of her that did not resemble a Hippy was the beads. She was high, she smelt bad, her hair hadn't seen shampoo since the summer of 67.
Oh just in case you have not noticed I oppose...lol
Tsk Tsk on the idea of taking drugs you naughty boy...xoxo
kisses babe!
Yes, life was simple then, but who can survive without all the 'trappings'? Face wash followed by face polish, then blonde enhancing shampoo, conditioner, herbal body wash, eye cream, skin serum, moist... Oh, bugger it, I wanna be a hippie too!
I love the whole Hair album. Patchouli, not so much.
I've never thought about what it would be like to live during that era. I understand it was about getting back to basics, being one with nature (and your fellow man and woman), and protesting the government machine. The music was cool, the clothes/fashion were crazy, and yes there was a lot of experimentation. Would it be for me? Probably not. But I'd be rooting you on as you drove by in your VW bus.
There was a documentary on PBS recently about the "Summer of Love". You should try to catch it the next time it plays. Towards the end of the "Summer", it wasn't all sunshine and lollipops apparently...
P.S. I was only 6, going on 7, at the time, so I wouldn't know either... :)
Sweetie, you're much too pretty to go hippie!
...also, Shaney's comment made me spit out Diet Coke all over the front of my shirt!...I think I found me a new stalkee, I mean, hero!
Hey, you hippy. Love your June greeting! Thanks for the timely reminder.
I was born in 1970, and my parents weren't really into the whole hippie movement.
Although I don't know much about the history of the summer of love, I frequently feel a connection to the same feelings of searching for peace and trying to make the world a better place.
yeah me too! Have a great weekend!
I want to give you flowers now.
Yes...I knew someone who you have always reminded me of (stringent Mormon upbringing by daddy the Bishop -- except his dad was an insane asshole and yours kind hearted). He loved the whole hippy freedom thing as it provided a path to slowly come out of the closet.
I am posting a one page excerpt from a web-book that I am working on which is a look at how the events of the past 5,000 years came together impacting a single month in the Beatles career: January 1969, and contributed to the death of the 60’s leading to the rise of the fascist and cultish fake Christianity take over of the GOP and of America. The page is from the spring of 1967, the summer of Love, which is the months that preceded the time you are speaking of here.
I think you've got enough interested people here to start the whole Hippie movement again. I was born in '65 and always wished I'd been born earlier too... Peace
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