The direction for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday is to choose a song that relates to a city, state or town. For me that city is San Francisco, and my song is San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear a Flower in Your Hair).
San Francisco was written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and was first sung by Scott McKenzie. It was produced and released in 1967. Many people considered it to be the unofficial anthem of the counter-culture movement of the 60’s.
The 60’s are often associated with sex, drugs and rock and roll. While I wore a headband and moccasins and considered myself to be a hippie in the late 60’s, I was not into sex or drugs and wasn’t particularly interested in rock and roll either. I became much more interested in music once the protest songs began.
I think what attracted me to the hippies was their counter-culture life style. They had no interest in doing what society said they should be doing. They followed their heart instead of societal norms.
I loved to go to San Francisco during those years. I enjoyed walking in the Haight-Ashbury District and hanging out listening to the drums in Golden Gate Park. Al and I even chose Golden Gate Park as the site for our wedding. After the ceremony, Jane Fonda, who was walking through the park with a child on her shoulders, came up to us and wished us well.
I also enjoyed going to Glide Memorial Church. It was a place where every type of person imaginable gathered together for Sunday services. To me, the services were Celebrations of Life. The lines to get into the church used to go around the block, and once inside people stood in the window sills, aisles and wherever else they could make space for themselves. I loved watching the faces of the people who had come from nearby hotels thinking they were going to a “regular” Sunday church service. They soon discovered that the service was anything but “regular.”
If you’re going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you’re going to San Francisco
You’re gonna meet some gentle people there
For those who come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there
In the streets of San Francisco
Gentle people with flowers in their hair
All across the nation such a strange vibration
People in motion
There’s a whole generation with a new explanation
People in motion, people in motion
For those who come to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there
If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there
(Once I finished writing this post, I checked my email. The first email I saw was titled “Can Drummers Dance?” and was about eight new drumming classes being offered by the Bay Area, CA Percussion School. I had never heard of this school nor had I received any emails from them in the past. I was startled, and amazed, by the synchronicity. Hmmm, maybe that school, or at least drumming, will be part of my future.)
Living, Learning and Letting Go 
It was a time and what a time it was. It was a time of innocence…. Your post did a great job recalling that moment.
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Thanks Bernadette.
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Alo-HA dear Karuna-Ji…..”People in Motion”………thanks for sharing this song today….yesterday we drove to Las Cruces to the opening of a friends art exhibit……….at dinner she casually said, as “Strawberry Fields Forever” was playing & Stanley had begun singing along……….”I was at Woodstock”……………never would’ve guessed that however she is a spirit artist and paints some really “groovy” pictures…..my statement was “Did you meet Wavy Gravy”? Such a funny question…..I was in the Air Force from 64 to 68 spending most of my time in Berlin & Turkey, missing some of the transition of my friends from short hair to tie dye……when I returned to Seattle the first Sunday afternoon I went to Volunteer Park with a group of “friends”, they pulled out some bud during the performance of Country Joe & The Fish and I stayed a bit longer feeling a bit uncomfortable….drove home alone wondering….”what was happening to my world?” Always loved music, just wasn’t sure about the drugs….ever…..thanks for the Mamas & Papas this morning….Namaste stanleydelGozo
trying to attach some photos and it appears they aredoubled and I can’t seem to remove them…:-)
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I can imagine how shocking it would be to come back to that world from a military base in another country.
So many synchronicities are happening for me right now. Amazing that you would have been somewhere yesterday where they were talking about that particular song.
BTW I lived at White Sands Missile Range when we were stationed in New Mexico the second time. It is very close to Las Cruces.
Pictures usually don’t transfer in comments, although some people know how to do it. I don’t. So the double photos weren’t a problem on my end. I’d like to see them.
I was at the Atlanta International Pop Festival in 1971. That was the second biggest one… only Woodstock was bigger. It was one of those things that I am so glad I did but never wanted to do again. Weather in the 100’s, no shade, little water, estimates of attendance range from 250,000-500,000. But I listened to Richie Havens, Chambers Brothers, Cast of Hair, Jimi Hendrix, and many more!
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Great post of a great time and city!
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A timeless classic song. I love it.
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I love San Francisco…the first city I visited in California as a give for my 50th birthday…still want to go back.
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When you’ve moved to Vancouver that will be easier for you to do! 🙂
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Haha, that is a sure statement there!! 🙂
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