Tags
1960s, acid, Baby Boomers, Baby Boomers eat their young, cliche, counterculture, dope, drugs, grass, helpful hints, hemp, If you can remember the 60s, Kingston Trio, LSD, lycergic acid diethylamide. LSD not LDS which is something very different, nostalgia for a nonexistent time, pot, reefer, second base, selective memory, squares, sweet sweet cheeba, the Sixties, wild times, Woodstock, you're still not getting anything from Martha
By Smaktakula
When an aging Baby Boomer wistfully opines, If you can remember the Sixties, you weren’t there, he wants to give the impression that life during the 1960s was like this:
"Brothers And Sisters, After We Bring The System To A Crashing Halt, We're Gonna Usher In The Age Of Aquarius. But First: Thirty-Six Hours Of Rainbow-Drenched Sex In An Environment Entirely Free Of Consequences! Far Out!"
When in all likelihood, reality was just a smidge more prosaic:
"When Martha Anderson Hears This Peachy Song I Wrote For Her, She's Sure To Let Me Get To Second Base!"
Promethean Times 
That may have been true of 1960, 61, and 62, but from then on it was the beginning of lsd, marijuana, real rock and roll, and a whole different reality for many. We ushered in the Civil Rights Act, the anti-war movement, and a social conciousness and/or unconciousness which persists to this day. I lived it, I remember most of it, and I am incredibly blessed to have come of age in such an explosion of mind blowing events!
Thanks for your comments, Linda. For clarification–we knew somebody had to be doing all those things, but we suspect that for many people who grew up during that time but didn’t participate (i.e., drugs, revolution, sex, music, etc.), their 60s nostalgia is for the life you and others lived.
But “Real Rock & Roll?” While it’s arguable that the greatest contributions to rock & roll to date were made during the sixties, I don’t think your intention was to discount all the great artists who came before, and other great artists like Elvis who stole it from ’em and made it a phenomenon. That’s why we love Elvis. He is America.
Born in 1954 and leading a fairly sheltered life I was just too young to know anything about Woodstock and Hippies until they had already happened.
It’s probably a good thing now, since my health and mind ought to be better as a result of not experiencing the wild side of the 1960’s, however the key word is “ought”.
Once you get to your 50’s you are already sliding down the wrong side of the hill…
Thanks for the comment! We suspect your experiences during the Sixties are a little closer to the norm than what is popularly understood.
“For clarification–we knew somebody had to be doing all those things, but we suspect that for many people who grew up during that time but didn’t participate (i.e., drugs, revolution, sex, music, etc.), their 60s nostalgia is for the life you and others lived.”
Are you sure that this is so?
Good question. Despite using the phrase “we suspect,” which typically indicates some room for doubt, we believe this more strongly than we believe any other thing.