Weekend Stardust Song

"We are stardust, 
We are golden,
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the Garden."

Forty-five years ago today in Max Yasgur's field in upstate New York, a festival billed as "3 days of peace and music" began.  That was Woodstock.  Half a million people showed up under sometimes difficult weather conditions to watch 32 acts perform, including much of rock royalty: the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, CCR, and (in only their second live performance) Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Although the venue was the "Woodstock Festival," Yasgur's farm was actually in Bethel, NY, about 45 miles from Woodstock.  In retrospect, it was probably the high water mark for the counterculture generation; the eponymous song about the festival written by Joni Mitchell expressed the hope and spiritual desire to "get back to the Garden" in the midst of the Vietnam War and social upheaval.  Joni didn't attend Woodstock and had to rely on then-boyfriend Graham Nash for some of the song's lyrical inspiration.

Here's Joni's recording of "Woodstock," made into a hit later by CSNY.  Enjoy your weekend (and peace!).