The Young to Old Hippie FAQ Thread

:H I use to live in Monterey and spent much time on the Height back then and it was a groovy place to hang, but f.f.>> 1995 and the mood was greed. The almighty dollar is king. Dozens of trendy shops with mass produced Japanese KRAP!, astronomically high rents and not a love child in sight.

Maybe, just maybe today's youth will be able to find the love and peace, creating a new nervana some place else. S>F> is beautiful though.

I really wish them loads of luck, and with a little bit of love they'll let us old fosils in too.

 

I think I found a new guru...LOL
Thanks brother for the wise words. It's all about respect for others and their individuality.

 

is it true that tyhe introduction of heroin into the the hippy-movement played a big role in the end of the movement?

 

Heroin played a big part in the end of most who used it. I'm sure there was heroin use within the hippy community, but most ( or maybe a large part is a better term) of the addictions came back with soldiers from Vietnam. Whether from morphine use for wounds or malaria infection, or from smoking skag, most of the users I knew came to use it that way Now that I think about it a lot of people started out shooting downers, reds (Lilly F40s or F88s), rainbows (tuinol?), yellow jackets (nembutol?) etc. Sorry I'm guessing on the actual drug names. I just woke up and am being too lazy to look it up. I persolally don't think heroin per say played a big role. It was just an aspect of a much larger overall segment that played a part. The reasons ran the gamet from apathy, to demonization by the media from the actions of a few, to the ultimate rise of (oh god! Forgive me for uttering THE D word!) Disco. lol there I said it.

 

I new here but an old hippie.It was not the drugs that killed the movement,it just went underground as in the previous post,we are still alive and well but we got jobs.
Hippies and rasta have so much in common.Love and world ctitzenship to name two.
Old hippies never die,their side effects just wear off!

 

Space Hippies were more likened to technology and science fiction. Pink Floyd always comes to mind, especially in the Ummagumma days. Another two groups that come to mind is Joe Byrd's United States of America and David Vorhaus' White Noise. When I saw Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's USA debut at the Fillmore in 1971, I knew there officially was "Science Fiction" music now. Sounds and Tones that formally were only in monster and alien movies, were now in popular music. Of course Kraftwerk, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Genesis, Spirit, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Moody Blues, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and others were experimenting with "Other Worldly" sounds and compositional structures. The heir apparent to this music is now Trip Hop, Ambient, Electronica, Techno, Rave, and other "trip" music.

In the "Virgin" days of the Peace/Love movement, there was a general acceptance to the differences between Urban, Space, and Field. I remember a taped concert on WNEW-FM, probably early 1969 or late 1968, where Lothar and The Hand People were playing with Richie Havens. The mind expanding elixirs, Peace Movement, and Anti-War sentimentality would allow for cross-fertlization.

When I saw Heroin, Booze, Downers, Hell's Angels, Manson, and other junk seeping into the Peace movement, I knew the end was near, sometime near 1972 or so. In the late 70s and early-mid 80s, New Wave, and New Romantic music was decidely psychedelic with bands like DEVO, The Fixx, Ultravox, Wall of Voodoo, Thomas Dolby, etc. Perhaps the "Nixonian" quality of Reagan temporarily woke up the still simmering psychedelic soul.

Now, we are literally in a Dark Ages of culture and music. When Bush-supporting artists like Britney Spears and 50 Cent become the norm, we are in trouble. You have to dip deep to find trippy stuff, but it is still there. Personally, I have been playing music for 50 years, and have not given up. Just to give a little taste, here are a couple of songs for your stoning pleasure:



http://www.noble-gas.com/SandSea.mp3
http://www.noble-gas.com/ool.mp3

http://www.noble-gas.com/telstar.mp3
http://www.noble-gas.com/Land_Between.mp3
http://www.noble-gas.com/queensumerius.mp3

 

Right on! So true.. if your not true to yourself, how can you be true to others.

Love, Peace & chicken grease,
Meg

 

I think that people should recognize that there is a huge gap between commercial portrayals of hippies and the reality of the people who thought of themselves as "real hippies", and who looked on all of this commercial exploitation as so much "plastic" (a very potent word back then).

 

A lot of people I know, as well as myself, truly belive we were shafted..we were born too late! I know the hippie movement was for only but a short time, but what a time to have been alive!! That time could never be recreated, no matter how authentic you can make it look. My generation....we have produced nothing worthwhile. We are a bunch of spoiled, greedy, selfish kids, perpetually drunk, getting high for all the wrong reasons. We are culturally barren...

 

luukz like it vit all dohz bald hed prisson like kidz 4 jeezuz.

 

Ya but we'll all be dead and you guys will be going to Mars! If Bush doesn't destroy America as we know it first. How cool is that!

 

1. Hope none of us are dead soon. Mars will wait for us, we'll be there, I'm not THAT old!
2. Nah, Bush will pass --- well maybe not in all connotations I hope,a good bush is good. ---

Thanks for the Happy B'day from the Forum!

It's the big 69.

I wish I could say I had big party with all the trimmings, pole dancer and massage table set up, all my friends in attendance, but "It Ain't To Be" . . . Ah Ha Ha AHHH ... Mot even any old girlfriends crashing the party, darnit, probably just a quiet day smokin and downing some beers. Don't really have a plan, who knows. (If I don't overdo it tonight!) anything could happen.
​

Anyway, have a good evening and a good time to all this hot fri night.

Roy.
[/indent]

 

OK, I guess that I'm a digger, head, hipster

Dan

 

Yah.

Good to me.

Stay cool Bro.

 

:rockon: :rockon:Hi.is there anyone out there from the old daze?Anyone from tampa,florida?email me at peggies118@aol.com!!!!

 

:jester:​

PEACE ON YOU​

 

:jester: I have noticed a recuring theme to many questions of the youg to the old in these forums which is< "What is a hippy and what makes us different from everyong else?"

To me being a hippy is all about being a warrior.

Ever since the 1940's when the first beatniks started showing up, through the 50's, 60's, and on into the 70's, we, though engaged in our own seperate bettles, wighting a war against HATE!

In this war there are no prisioners. There is no mercy for the wounded. There shall be no monuments for the fallen. This is a war of absolute enilulation, for the enemy is no less than HATE itself.

Who is hate's greatest aley? The American government for one. The same government that gas suoght, for the last 60 years, to propigate hatred and unrest throught the world.

Jesus Christ gave up his life for his beliefs.
Mohanid gave his life for his.
Buda gave up his live to his beliefs.
Gahandi gave up his life living his beliefs.
The U. S. government is willing to sacrifice its entire cizenry for its self seeking purpose.
What are you willing to give up for your beliefs?

"Our actions must never be passive, but rather highly provocative and thought provoking," Gahandi.

"If it doesn't get into the press, then it didn't happen," S.D.S./Weathermen.


Don't allow yourself to become deluded by the government's reports and clains that "THEY" are the enemy. All these claims are just a smoke screen.

THIS IS A WAR TO THE BITTER END!

If you can't claim that you have engaged in action against this enemy, then don't bother to claim that you're a "hippy", because you're not. You're either a spy for the enemy, traitor, liar, or other undesireable beast.
I forgive you.

PEACE BE WITH YOU ONE AND ALL!

 

I am 58, so I guess I am one of the "old hippies" whatever they are. Of course , back then, I was from Texas so some thought I wasn't cool enough in Cali. For me the Hippie label was just that. I was more concerned with folks being what they wanted to be--not any label. Of course we all hated the war. Anyway, I don't care about fashion, hair (I have very little left). Drugs were not the thing for me though they got me into the swing of things way back then. Question Authority and having enough sense to know to Question Authority are the eternal things I learned then.

 

but did not mess with anything till 72.

Wasn't really a hippie,more of a long hair weed smoker in my younger days.

We never wore flowers back then,just got ripped and listened to the Rock
music of that era. Top name Rock concerts cost no more than 20 bucks,but
averaged around 12. We also consumed alot of booze back then as well along
with anything else that struck our fancy.Some called us Freaks.

Back in the 70s on a rare warm winter night like we're having now in Virginia -
We would be sitting out in the woods on logs rolling up huge thumb size bones,
maybe having 2 or 3 going at once and washing it all down with cold brew or
perhaps a bottle of hard spirits.


Often the cops would try to sneak up on us in attempt to end our revelry,
but we fled like shadows in the night.Once two officers ran smack-dab into
a grove of Devil's Walking Canes(a small tree-like plant covered with long thorns)
on a moonless,starless night.

We saw them latter at a all night eatery called The Waffle House,faces,arms,
and hands bore the wounds of the walking canes.

The cops did not even know we were the ones they were chasing through
the brush earlier.

We knew our bit of party woods real good,better than them.

Now at 50 it is doubtful I could out distance some of the young officers of
today,and they built a subdivision where our woods once were.

Ahhh, fleet footed youth.

Things are different now,more woodcraft is called for now.

 

I'd like to comment on the hair thing if I may. Long hair wasn't a fashion statement back then. I remember hearing people say "oh everyone has long hair. How can you call that a statement of non conformity?" and other equally insipid statements. What you have to realize is back then growing long hair was an act of social acceptability destruction. Growing your hair effectively alienated you from society. We grew our hair long knowing, that doing so would, other than getting a job cleaning shit out of dog kennels or something, completely remove you from the job market. It was a serious act of social self-destruction, and alienation. That was why so many of us, even though we would, out of love, accept them for what they were, felt sorry for the weekend posers who would put on their paisley shirt, what if they gave a war and no one came buttons and bell bottomed hippie uniform, and venture out into the weekend night scene crowds. They just didn't get it. t's kind of like the guys nowadays who put some egg in their hair and spike it out for the weekend rave, but are well groomed and ready for work on monday. That's also why I have a lot of respect for punkers and their hair, along with their music which I find very political and socially conscious, and enjoy even if I'm 57. If you never got into punk rock, check out the lyrics to some Bad Religion songs some day. Especially off the Against The Grain album, which is one of my favorite all time musical journeys.

Back to hair. I mean for the girls it was the same thing. Although long hair wasn't going to set them apart like it did for the guys, the ladies found their voice in unshaven legs and arm pits, that was equally as effective as the long hair on the guys. And, no, it doesn't feel like making love to a guy when you're with a lady who doesn't shave.

Another thing is the age thing. There wasn't an age thing back then. A 15 year old or a 60 year old were equally as welcome into the movement. They were entitled to and respected for their opinions which were received openly without a bunch of age related judgemental crap. It pisses me off when I see older people on here belittle the younger ones who are/want to be, into the whole scene. Whether it is because of their naivete or whatever. Remember we are all due the minimal respect for being a fellow human being if nothing else. The young ones will make the future. Lets listen to what they have to say, OK? Crap I'm starting to wander again. Sorry. (insert Janis Joplin voice here) THAT'S IT! HA HA HA, HA HA HA HA, HA HA!