Something in the Air

It was 50 years ago today that we exclaimed, in the words of the new American president, Gerald Ford, “Our long national nightmare is over.”

Yes, and it was 50 years ago last night (Aug. 8) that I heard the great news personally from Graham Nash.

This was one of the greatest moments of my life.

Serendipity was at play. I was living for a brief period with my parents in Mount Kisco, N.Y., pondering my next “career move” after quitting a job out-of-state. And so I had the freedom to roam around and that meant I could get out to Jersey City with my girlfriend to see a concert by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

The price of a ticket: $6.50. Remember, this was 50 years ago.

We all knew, those 50,000 of us gathered at an old ballpark, Roosevelt Stadium, that something big was in the air, even bigger than seeing this superstar group.

Richard Nixon was a hurting dude. Three months earlier the House Judiciary Committee had begun hearings on whether to impeach The Trickster for “high crimes and misdemeanors” (Watergate). In late July the committee members approved three articles of impeachment, including obstruction of justice. And on Aug. 5 Nixon, under pressure, released a transcript of “the smoking gun” tape, making clear his complicity in the Watergate cover-up. It became certain he would be convicted by Congress. Even his Republican buddies (for instance, Barry Goldwater) told Tricky Dick his time was up.

And so on the night of Aug. 8 — as we 50,000 were enjoying CSN&Y, whose music had long attacked Nixon — “four dead in Oho” — he was preparing to go on national TV to announce he would resign the following day.

The band took a break; it turned out they gathered backstage to watch that short speech on TV. Then, upon their return to the stage, Graham Nash ran up to the microphone and shouted, “NIXON RESIGNED!”

Fifty thousand of us, all instantly up on our feet, yelling and screaming and applauding and hugging each other. Fireworks went off — and the band launched into “Long Time Gone.” The opening line: “It’s been a long time comin’…”

Crosby later recalled it: “When we heard backstage, we went bonkers. Graham announced it to the audience and the place was completely up for grabs. It was a moment of complete and utter joy, that a dark cloud was finally lifting and everyone there had somehow been a part of it.”

Nash’s memory: “In a way it was kind of Woodstockian, if there is such a word. And the people that went to Woodstock were reliving that, and the people that didn’t go to Woodstock were trying to approximate what it must have felt like at Woodstock — that feeling that together, the public has a tremendous amount of power if we can only get our scene together.”

The lyrics of “Long Time Gone” — written by Crosby the night Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated — still apply to today’s political heroes and villains: “You know that somethin’ is goin’ on around here that surely, surely, surely won’t stand the light of day…Speak out! You got to speak out against the madness. You got to speak your mind, if you dare…It’s been a long time comin.’ It’s going to be a long time gone. But you know the darkest hour is always, always just before the dawn.”

And now, again, so many years after those dramatic events, those often-terrible times, we’re hoping for, yes, soon, a new dawn.