Missing Out

What the story of a song can teach us while we’re sitting on the sidelines

The song “Woodstock” popped into my head the other day. Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded it, but I’m partial to the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young version. The lyrics tell the story of a journey to the famed three-day music festival that took place in Bethel, N.Y. in the summer of 1969.

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, where are you going
And this he told me
I’m going on down to Yasgur’s farm
I’m going to join in a rock ’n’ roll band
I’m going to camp out on the land
I’m going to try ’n’ get my soul free

Mitchell was supposed to appear at Woodstock on its final day. By the time she arrived in New York from Chicago, where she had been performing with CSNY the night before, reports had surfaced of endless traffic jams on the roads into Bethel and festival-goers who’d abandoned their cars to walk. One state trooper trying to ease the congestion told The Daily News, “The situation is hopeless and getting worse.”

That was enough to convince Mitchell’s manager, David Geffen, that she should bail. She was scheduled to make her debut on The Dick Cavett Show the following day, and Geffen did not want to risk getting stuck. He took Mitchell back to the Pierre Hotel and they watched…