Listening to Joan Baez sing 'Forever Young' made me sad. It's a wonderful, loving wish for a life, every word. One of the anthems of a generation. Even its words forget those who never were young.
A real Boomer though will tell you it's the old souls she's singing to, not those who couldn't feel the energy of that generation. The dawning of the Age of Aquarius is really a few hundred years yet.
The cutting edge, first adopters, those who thought the world had not changed enough to catch up with their shared vision, were only a small slice of that generation. The oldest Boomers are in their 70s now, and many still have the Cold War etched into their bones.
The poetic words at the end -- sounding very much like an Irish farewell -- may have asked too much of anyone.
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
The generation that set out to change the world succeeded. It didn't change itself so much though. The idealism of the Boomers is more broadly reflected in the Gen Ys. The Boomers became first neoliberals then neoconservatives, inexorably failing Baez' prayer to "always be courageous" to always be defensive by sliding to the right, losing much of the intrinsic joy along the way.
Politics became personal and then too personal, as one very human contradiction after conflict stumbled over one another in chaotic competition as technology continued its trajectory far ahead of the social and psychological.
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