Originally Posted by
AlanLa
Views on Woodstock definitely seems to be generationally based. It seems both older and younger don't quite "get it" the way those of us of that generation seem to, and we didn't have to be there to "get it" either. I feel like I understood it just watching it on the news. Of course, I didn't understand it the way those there did, but I felt something similar, or so I am convinced. All the words I've been reading about it still don't adequately seem to describe it for those witnessing it, from near or afar. We don't understand others' enlightenment experiences either, but that doesn't mean it's ok to doubt them or denigrate them (not that I am accusing you of that). Part of the lingering mystery of Woodstock is how it came to be seen as so magical that 40 years later there is still fascination with it, but for those there it was also the most natural thing in the world. Not two things, by the way.
And yes, similar experiences happen with any big crowd, but this was a HUGE crowd, 400,000 people, so multiply that normal crowd experience by whatever many times, then add the beautiful outdoors, a rainstorm, lack of food and water and sanitation facilities, and you get a rock-n-roll zen monastery :roll: