Higher
Time out of mind
Walking back from the Ratatat performance last night I passed by the Space Shower tent, which was playing a DVD of "Woodstock." At first I thought, "what a cliche," but the performance that happened to be on at that moment was Sly and the Family Stone's "I Want to Take You Higher." It had been literally decades since I'd seen the clip, and quite a few years since I'd listened to the song, which used to be on my turntable almost 24/7 when I was in junior high school. Of course, everything came flooding back, especially Sly's amazing monologue when he tried to get the crowd to join in the chorus. It seemed chillingly contemporary ("...there's people fighting that war..."). I was so caught up in it that I didn't at first notice how raptly the small crowd was watching. Most of the viewers obviously weren't even born when the performance took place, and they seemed really mesmerized by this time capsule glimpse of the grandaddy of all rock festivals. But it was Sly they were into. Three guys in the front pumped their fists with every cry of "higher!" and they mouthed along with the word, but not a sound came out. Maybe they were being courteous to the others. No problem. They'll have plenty of opportunities the rest of the weekend.
Reported by phil (2007.07.27 / 09:45)
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