Super Bowl 50, in all it’s hippie glory. Photo Collage: Glenn Manacker.
Superbowl 50 brought us a patriotic Lady Gaga in two mismatched Gucci shoes, a Denver Broncos victory very few believed would happen, a performance of Beyonce’s new song “Formation” and an appearance by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson.
But it also showed us that even after almost 50 years, California can’t shake its hippie past.
Before Beyonce and Bruno hit the stage, Coldplay singer Chris Martin strutted around Santa Clara, California’s Levi’s Stadium on a colorful, flower-shaped stage in front of his band’s drum kit, piano, and amps, which held chains of bright orange flowers. While Martin jumped and danced during “Adventure of a Lifetime,” the surrounding field was filled with dancers holding–you guessed it–more big, bright purple and yellow flowers. Finally, the 13-minute performance concluded with a colorful message spelled out in the stands: “BELIEVE IN LOVE.”
Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, lies about 47 miles from San Francisco’s infamous hippie hub, Haight-Ashbury, which provided a haven for members of the American counterculture in 1967, a year historically known as the Summer of Love. The neighborhood ran on drugs, music, contempt for the Vietnam War, more drugs, and a progressive social atmosphere. Rock bands like the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane thrived there and acted as leaders of the growing movement, and journalist Tom Wolfe immortalized the hippie lifestyle in his 1968 book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, which follows the Merry Pranksters, a group who travel across the country hopped up on LSD.
Though there was no shortage of music in Haight-Ashbury, “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” by singer-songwriter Scott McKenzie became, according to the Telegraph, “the unofficial anthem of the counterculture movement of the 1960s.” The song, which was reportedly written in 20 minutes by John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas, begins:
If you’re going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
One has to wonder if Chris Martin and the Halftime planners drew their inspiration from California’s historic past or if they simply got swept away in the state’s sunny, 68-degree weather.
Watch Scott McKenzie perform “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” live at California’s 1967 Monterey Pop Festival: