A piece of my distant past pops up
January 28, 2010
So I'm in the grocery store and the PA starts playing a song that stops me dead. A song I hadn't heard, even on golden oldies and "classic rock" radio, for a long, long time. High school, maybe before.
I think it's so groovy now
That people are finally getting together
I thinks it's wonderful and how
That people are finally getting together
A few seconds spent with the magic that is Google and I find that it is "Reach Out of the Darkness" by Friend & Lover. From 1968, the year after the Summer of Love and the year before Woodstock. Very catchy chorus and a nice flash of remembering being 12 years old. But look at some of the lyrics--could there be any better summary of the thinking of the hippies?
I knew a man that I did not care for
And then one day this man gave me a call
We sat and talked about things on our mind
And now this man he is a friend of mine. . .
Don't be afraid of love
(Don't be afraid) don't be afraid
Don't be afraid to love
(Listen to me)
Everybody needs a little love
Everybody needs somebody
That they can be thinking of
So reach out
I can't find a legal copy on the Web for you to listen to, but you can hear a sample at Amazon because it's on the album, "One Hit Wonders". (Which contains a few other holy-cow-do-you-remember-that beauties. "98.6"! "Montego Bay"!! "Come On Down to My Boat" by Every Mother's Son!!!)