The history of rock and roll is short enough to be contained in the life span of a baby boomer, and yet long enough to chronicle some rather important social changes. Since pop music captures the prevailing ideals of a generation, it’s easy to see the forces that have shifted attitudes over the last 40 years. Compound that with the fact that music from the ’60s and ’70s is still a big part of our contemporary culture via “oldies” rock stations, movie sound tracks and even advertisements, and you have instances of stark cultural contrasts popping up all over.

Take, for instance, the ’60s Creedence Clearwater classic, “Fortunate Son.” “It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I’m no millionaire’s son/It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I’m no fortunate one.” The sentiment of this song is to be proud about not being rich or privileged. And then compare that with the current Travie Mccoy rap song I also heard on the same day: “I wanna be a billionaire so frickin’ bad/Buy all of the things I never had,” and you have the values of two generations rubbing against each other. To its credit, the “Billionaire” song goes on to be as lavish in giving as it is in getting, but it is still clear that one song eschews what the other one chases.

And then yesterday I caught a diaper ad that called upon the nostalgia surrounding probably the premiere communal rock anthem of the ’60s, “Get Together,” by the Youngbloods. “C’mon people now/Smile on your brother/Ev’rybody get together/Try to love one another right now.” Now what that has to do with keeping baby bottoms dry, I can’t possibly imagine.

That song even called up biblical themes – part of the strong spiritual longing that softened many hearts for the message of Jesus that would dominate the early ’70s. “When the one that left us here/Returns for us at last/We are but a moment’s sunlight/Fading in the grass.”

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8; 1 Peter 1:24-25)

“You hold the key to love and fear/All in your trembling hand/Just one key unlocks them both/It’s at your command…”

Love or fear. It’s still my choice… your choice, too. The key is in our hands. What will we do?

“Come on people now/Smile on each other/Everybody get together/Try to love one another right now.”