How bright were the 1960s?

As a person who was born in 1989, any view I have of any era before that is dictated by pictures, films, stories and songs. In my mind, the sixties were a vibrant and colourful time — slides of flowers, bright dresses and sunshine fill my brain’s powerpoint presentation. However, I was listening to Paint It, Black by The Rolling Stones and I got a rather different impression. Nicholas Rombes in his Cultural Dictionary of Punk says that the song was ‘was released in May 1966, the same month that tens of thousands of anti-Vietnam War protestors picketed the White House.’ He goes on to quote a poem from that era, At a March against the Vietnam War by Robert Bly:

We have carried around this cup of darkness.

We hesitate to anoint ourselves.

Now we pour it over our heads.

He makes a case for saying that this ‘blackness’ that Mick Jagger sung about was in reference to the mood of the time — brutality, injustice and cruelty. The song went to number one, so it definitely resonated with many. Film director Stanley Kubrick was one who twenty years later closed his über-dark Vietnam War film “Full Metal Jacket” with the song. I appreciated Mick’s help in giving me an alternative P.O.V.

A Man Needs a Maid.

Just read this on Wikipedia, I had to share it; I think it’s the best non-fiction article that one can read in under a minute I have ever come across.

A Man Needs a Maid is the 4:05 minute-long 3rd track from Neil Young’s album, Harvest about the actress Carrie Snodgress, Young’s girlfriend at the time. Together they had a child (Zeke), who was born with cerebral palsy. The relationship ended a few years later. Snodgress spent her time caring for Zeke and was unable to get back to acting. She died in 2004.

The Rolling Stones pianist and movie soundtracks composer, Jack Nitzsche produced the track. He also dated Snodgress, though a few years after her relationship with Young ended, however in 1979 he was sentenced to probation after he beat her with a handgun.

The London Symphony Orchestra played on this.

The song characterises the woman as a “Maid,” but it is said that the song meant no disrespect – Young wrote it “in the spirit of the Robin Hood tale Maid Marion”

 

It’s amazing what you can learn in 1 minute.