Music Babble

Well, that's valid--one wonders if 1970 wasn't the last time you COULD release a big optimistic song about Woodstock, given that the upbeat (but lyrically bleak) "Baba O'Riley" was right around the corner. And it's not like the reason DV has gone down as a classic is because it's the bridge between Woodstock and bloated AOR stadium rock, because I'm willing to bet not that many people think of it that way.
But hey, as a "last gasp at the same time," as you call it--it's the last gasp OF big, flowery, optimistic 1960s statements!! Because by 1970 and 1971 we've got all the big "oh god the hippie thing is over" statements like There's A Riot Goin' On and, hey, Neil Young's own After The Gold Rush from the same year as DV. So you're right.

And I mean, it's almost funny and sad at the same time (hey, that's your theme!) how quickly psychedelia was over with--remember how CCR's Pendulum ends with Fogerty trying a godawful art-rock church organ psych epic, "Rude Awakening #2"?