San Francisco is for lovers....

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San Francisco

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is for lovers....

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' San Francisco ' by Scott McKenzie in 1967

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Friends, this is the thought that I want to leave you with as I close out my life as it was in 1967. The song ' San Francisco ' by Scott McKenzie really portrays the mood of the times. It was not my favourite song by a long shot because it reminded me of many negative things, the most predominant of which was the Vietnam War.

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But, this song represented a reaction to the more noticeable things that were occurring all around me. This was the era of the hippy and the love ins - free love. San Francisco was the place to be if you were with the times and moving with the mood of the young population. People were reacting to this war and to authority itself and the old ways. Now, I should have grabbed on to this feature of society since, as a rebellious youth, I could easily relate to these themes. But, I did not. I never became a hippy or a pot smoking or acid taking freak. I remained myself in spite of the turmoil swirling about me. For in a way, the whole business frightened me.

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This was the era of women's liberation and of love-ins and changing clothing styles. Freedom was the issue and the philosophy. 'Peace Brother ' was a common slogan and the peace sign was a popular greeting method among the young and the so-inclined. I still use the peace sign once in a while out of a subconscious habit I suppose. It takes me back in time when I do that. This was also the times of the student demonstrations and of speaking out against authority and war itself. This truly was an epoch making time indeed and the millions of baby boomers were finally coming alive and into their own - it was their moment to react against an oppressive system.

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But, as I state above not all of us became hippies and active questioners of the system. The phenomenon was certainly hard to ignore especially when you had the Vietnam War raging in the background and acting as a prop for the newly incited young masses. For me, love was the message of the song by Scott McKenzie; this was the alternative to war and all things evil. I detailed for you earlier on how things were to change after the death of Kennedy in 1963. See, for example, my post: My Teenage Years: 1963 . After 1963 the British Invasion occurred. New music and new clothing entered the scene. It was almost as if we were being set up for something new to occur, something like war and lots of war. And, the mood became somber and this change in temperament was only exacerbated by the events in 1967 and beyond.

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This song by Scott McKenzie offered some hope and an alternative to war in my opinion. The theme of ' San Francisco ' would form part of my life later on in the crucial events of my life in 1983 as well. ' San Francisco is for lovers ' was to become much more than a slogan for me - it would become something real, something that would make me come alive, if only for a brief period in my life.

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