A growing countercultural movement that would question traditional modes of authority began to coalesce around opposition to the war in Viet Nam and in support for civil rights.
The poetic words in Bob Dylan’s song “The Times They Are A’ Changin,” described the intergenerational tensions emerging in the nation, crossing ethnic, racial and class boundaries.
"Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
...The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’ "
In August of 1969, Woodstock, a three-day musical festival drew more than 400,000 young people. Jimi Hendrix, wearing a Native American fringed jacket, was the final act of the festival and his rendition of the national anthem is still considered a hallmark of the event.