Friday, July 15, 2011

New Hippies through the Decades (video)

Amber Dorrian, Seven, Macpherson, Pauper Poet (Wisdom Quarterly)
 1960s: "Wonderwall" with George Harrison

Imagine a world where we all got along. Nothing divides us but our arbitrary categories and allegiances. We say we're this, not that. Imagine converting to all religions, clinging to none. Imagine accepting everyone, rejecting none. Imagine not judging, and without judgment, acceptance and compassion.

1970s: "In every dream home a heartache. And every step I take takes me further from heaven."Is there a heaven? I'd like to think so. Standards of living, they're rising daily. But home, O sweet home, it's only a saying..." (Roxy Music).

The Buddha's Dharma is universal and leads to light. There is no reason to reject anything or anyone. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain seemed to be onto something. But even before that, the Beatles understood, and Led Zeppelin imagining themselves traveling through Kashmir. Then Rave Culture caught on in the very next decade, first in the UK then the US. And there may be no better example of techno than Makai's remix of "Five Elements Ninja."
  • "Instead of money and power, rave called for empathy, intimacy, spirituality, and the joy of losing yourself in the crowd."
1980s: Rave culture is born

Of course many think the 90s were a dark period of materialism, blind ambition, and chemical drugs. But there was crunchiness and a longing for days gone by, as funny as it may seem that three decades on, the Sixties were still the only example of "peace, love, and happiness" many Americans had, that and Grateful Dead shows followed by Phish. This was followed in the aughts (00s) by endless free festivals that continue to this day.

Rainbow Spirit

 1990s: Festivals, festivals, and more plans for festivals

Then the music industry fell into a dormant period, at least rock music did, until one Buddhism inspired some depressive Seattle slackers to wish for a "final end of suffering." The singer named his new band "Nirvana" as he tried to walk the path and cross over from the muddy banks of the Wishkah. It has smelled like Teen Spirit deodorant ever since. And in 1999, it culminated in a post-punk MTV orgy of violence and greed.
  • Kurt Cobain: "At this point I have a request for our fans. If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us... leave us the ***K alone! Don't come to our shows, and don't buy our records."


2000s: Y2K began in 1999 with MTV's version of Woodstock

The Fenians, Irish Republic Proclamation: "All men are born with equal rights, and in associating together to protect one another and share public burdens, justice demands that such associations should rest upon a basis which maintains equality instead of destroying it. We therefore declare that, unable longer to endure the curse of monarchical government, we aim at founding a republic, based on universal suffrage, which shall secure to all the intrinsic value of their labour" (The Irish People to the World 1867).

Suburban angst builds before Los Angeles rises

2010s: "And now The End is near. And so I face the final curtain. Ha, ha, ha. You can't, I'm not a queer. I'll state my case, of which I'm certain. I've lived a life that's full. I traveled each and every highway. And more, much more than this, I did it my way" (Sid Vicious).
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