"Woodstock" is a song written by Canadian-American singer-songwriter
Joni Mitchell. She would first perform the song at the Big Sur Festival
in California on September 13, less than one month after Woodstock.
It appeared in April 1970 on her album Ladies of the Canyon and
as the B-side to her single "Big Yellow Taxi".
The song's lyrics refer to the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival
held in August 1969, and tell the story of a concert-goer on a trek
to Max Yasgur's farm in New York State to join in the "song and
celebration". Mitchell, who was unable to perform at the festival
herself, was inspired to write the song after she heard an account of
it from her then-boyfriend Graham Nash, who had performed at the
festival. Mitchell's anthemic song and the festival it commemorated
became symbolic of the counterculture of the 1960s.
Ladies of the Canyon is the third studio album by the Joni Mitchell,
released on Reprise Records in April 1970. The LP peaked at #27 on
the Billboard 200 Albums chart and has been certified platinum by
the RIAA. The title makes reference to Laurel Canyon, a center of
popular music culture in Los Angeles during the 1960s, where she
lived while she was writing the album.
A Playlist of all HT Class of '73 Songs of the Day is available by clicking below:
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