Woodstock Lyrics
and I asked him tell where are you going, this he told me:
Well, I’m going down to Yasgur's farm, going to join in a rock and roll band.
Got to get back to the land, set my soul free.
We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon,
and we got to get ourselves back to the garden.
And I feel like I'm a cog in something turning.
And maybe it's the time of year, yes, and maybe it's the time of man.
And I don't know who I am but life is for learning.
We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon,
and we got to get ourselves back to the garden.
and everywhere there was song and celebration.
And I dreamed I saw the bombers jet planes riding shotgun in the sky,
turning into butterflies above our nation.
and we got to get ourselves back to the garden.
The song opens with a nod to Mathew 5:9 saying blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. This is talking definately about the anti-war movement. And the next obvious bible reference is to the garden. All in all, it was a smart way to protest a war that was supported by Christian fundementalists. Using their beliefs against them. Good song, excellent message.
I think the references to god and a garden (of eden perhaps) are very metaphorical. I love this song and I'm wanted finding the real lyrics to some of the words I could not understand. Now that I see the true lyrics I think the writer of this song is a student of science. "we are star dust... we are billion year old carbon." That is really cool for that to be in this song because all we are is matter from exploded stars billions of years ago. We would not exists if stars did not explode their elemental guts so to say all throughout the universe. As Professor Lawrence Krauss likes to say "forget jesus the stars died so you could be here." I think the reference to the garden is a metaphor for paradise. Which is what Woodstock was to some at the times going on in the world.
Just wondering whether Joni was giving a nod to Ed Mitchell's revelatory words as he viewed planet Earth for the first time from space.
Just wondering whether Joni was giving a nod to Ed Mitchell's revelatory words as he viewed planet Earth for the first time from space.
"We are stardust." - Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 10 astronaut, May '69. "...we are stardust..." - Joni, August '69
"We are stardust." - Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 10 astronaut, May '69. "...we are stardust..." - Joni, August '69
when i think of anything 60's related - vietnam, nixon, woodstock, hippies, psychadelia -i pretty much think of this lyric:
by the time we got to woodstock, we were half a million strong, and everywhere there was song and celebration. and i dreamed i saw the bombers jet planes riding shotgun in the sky, turning into butterflies above our nation.
wow
My personal thought is that "the garden" isn't the Garden of Eden from the Bible, but rather, it's the pristine state of the Earth, prior to mankind sprawling like roaches and debasing everything it comes in contact (ie, causing deforestation, pollution, and the extinction of many species). It is about holding the world we live in as sacred and recognizing that we are made up of such stuff and the need to hold ourselves accountable.
This is a timeless song in many ways, universal, spiritual, truth-full. We are all "a cog in something turning" - in the wheel of Life. This is a calling to realize what we have lost in the modern world: our connection to the earth, the seasons, each other, ourselves - we have become out of tune, out of step with the rhythm of Life and with the Source and Creator of Life. So often we find ourselves drifting, half-living, going through the motions and often wondering Why? What is the meaning, the purpose? "And I don't know who I am but life is for learning." This song is a call reminding us that we are all connected to each other, all living things on earth (are carbon based), the Earth itself, and the Universe: "We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon..." To gain an understanding of the answers to our universal questions and "set my soul free" we "got to get ourselves back to the garden". ~ Angela
i think this song is such a good anthem for the hippies who were or were not at woodstock, and to realize that even today, we are just trying to get back to the garden. joni mitchell's lyrics are amazing, (she wrote this song for them).
in the worst rolling stone album review of many bad ones...the reviewer gave the deja vu album 4 stars and went on to say how terrible it was...reading it, i laugh my ass off when he tries to tear them apart by making a comment most would consider a compliment...the worst is at the end: ~Crosby, Stills and Nash—plus or minus Neil Young—will probably remain the band that asks the question, "What can we do that would be really heavy?" And then answers, "How about something by Joni Mitchell?" ~
saying anything like that about Joni Mitchell is a sin
i adore this song
i'm surprised there aren't more comments for this song. it's really one of those perfect hippie/classic rock songs. i seriously didn't even know all the lyrics until i read this, like this part:
Well, then can I walk beside you? I have come to lose the smog. And I feel like I'm a cog in something turning.
it just makes me have goosebumps. it is perfect.
the song is pretty self-explanatory, but i think the garden he's talking about is eden, of course. all trying to get back to perfection and peace.
love this song. its a real good theme for the hippie movement