Lay Down ( Candles in the Rain)

As an old hippie, I was -- still am -- a fan of Melanie Safka's music, from "Brand New Key;" to the "Nickel Song," to her version of "Ruby Tuesday;" to, of course, "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," a song that was written about her experience at -- wait for it ...

Woodstock.

Story here.

I wasn't at Woodstock. I'm probably the only guy my age who was a hippie who wasn't, according to all the stories. Must have been fifty, sixty million people there, if every who claimed to be was ...

I did manage the Celebration of Life, at McCrae, on the Atchafalaya River, a couple summers later, and while somewhat smaller in scale -- official records say fifty thousand, my recollection was that there were twice that many -- so I have an idea of the energy such a smaller event can generate. It was hot, wet, mosquitoes everywhere, people drowning, getting run over by cars taking short cuts, and, of course, the music. I was, ostensibly, working for The Word, the local hippie paper for which I was a cartoonist and columnist, and we were delivering food and water in The Word van to the hungry and thirsty. Got us in free, that did. Us, and half the people who didn't bother with the gates ...

Wonder of wonders, somebody had a camera, and lookit, it's on YouTube. (Look, there I am, right there, the stoned guy, standing in line outside the porta-potty ... no, wait, I'm the stoned guy in the mud pit -- no, wait, wait, the stoned guy down by the river ... Well. I'm pretty sure I was there. I think. And no doubt I was stoned.)

"Hey, man, you want to buy a paper? The Word, only a quarter."

"I wish. I'm broke, dude."

"Hey, fuck it, have one for free."

The paper didn't do too well, that issue. There weren't that many porta-potties, and, well ... you know ...

Ah, the good old days ...




Melanie, who like Cher, sang under one name, will always be a part of that old hippie sound.