Nearly 40 years ago, a singer named Mary Hopkin was sponsored by the Beatles on Apple Records, their new label. Is that ancient history, or what? I remember the song she came out with, "Those Were The Days". The lyrics were bittersweet, a yearning rememberance of what it was like to be young and inspired to do things that were maybe revolutionary in the hope it would make the world a better place. I was around 14. It made me think of Soviet revolutionaries and gypsies (now called Roma people to be PC)...probably because of the instruments used. It never occurred to me that the song might apply to my generation...in 2006.
I'm a baby boomer and so is TB. A baby boomer is a person born between the end of WWII and the early 1960s. We grew up in some turbulent times, beginning with the assassination of President Kennedy. Even though there was a Cold War going on, I don't think it touched us--not the way this did. We were the Cleavers and the Stones and the Andersons you saw on TV.
Things changed dramatically after Kennedy was killed. The Civil Rights movement had been gaining momentum and the war in Viet Nam had been dragging on. Young people -- the older of our Boomers -- at college age began to sit in and protest. Other young people followed the advice of a real looney named Dr. Timothy Leary and turned on, tuned out and dropped out, becoming hippies. Some lived on the streets and some joined communes. Everyone wanted to change the world so there would be no more killing or injustice. Peace, brother, peace.
As the boomers grew up, they pushed every social hot button and then some. Picking up the civil rights banner. Expanding the universe of choices people have from women's rights to gay rights to abortion. Fighting the war in Vietnam and protesting it at home.They fought the system and they fought each other. On college campuses across the country the battle lines between left and right were drawn early and shape the red state/blue state political landscape of today.
Yes, I remember "Hell, no, we won't go!" and Kent State and the Summer of Love. I remember the warning that we shouldn't trust anyone over 30 and that the establishment was corrupt.
Now look at us. We've become the establishment we were rebelling against! I laughed my head off the first time I saw Jerry Rubin in a suit. Even Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden "went establishment"!
Whichever side of that divide the boomers found themselves on, there's no disputing the quarter century that followed until 9/11 was a time of relative peace and prosperity.The boomers became the wealthiest generation in history with spending power of $2 trillion dollars a year. But they've spent far more than they've saved -- much of it on themselves -- especially in their search for the fountain of boomer youth, part of a legendary self indulgence that has a dark side. ...
And yet all across America, from marathons to yoga studios, other boomers are turning the whole notion of aging on its head, or trying to. For all their failings they are still fitter than their parents ever were. And most don't believe old age will actually start until they are 85. That's three years beyond the life expectancy of today's 60-year-olds.
The oldest of us boomers, the ones who were hippies or protestors or what have you, turned 60 on January 1, 2006. When I was 14, someone that age was ancient and now ... well, that's not old. I'm not a senior citizen, my parents are.
The article I read is here.
Here are the lyrics to the song I was talking about:
Those Were The Days
Mary Hopkins
Music & Lyrics : Gene Raskin
Once upon a time there was a tavern
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And dreamed of all the great things we would do
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
La la la la...
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
Then the busy years went rushing by us
We lost our starry notions on the way
If by chance I'd see you in the tavern
We'd smile at one another and we'd say
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
La la la la...
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
Just tonight I stood before the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
In the glass I saw a strange reflection
Was that lonely woman really me
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
La la la la...
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
Through the door there came familiar laughter
I saw your face and heard you call my name
Oh my friend we're older but no wiser
For in our hearts the dreams are still the same
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
La la la la...
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days