Joni Mitchell wrote the song from what she had heard from then-boyfriend, Graham Nash, about the festival. She had not been there herself, since she had instead chosen to appear on The Tonight Show. She wrote this song crying at home watching the show on television.
The song later went on to be hits for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Matthews' Southern Comfort, the latter reaching #1 on the UK singles chart for three weeks in October 1970. David Crosby in an interview said that Mitchell had captured the feeling and importance of the Woodstock festival better than anyone who had been there.
Led Zeppelin incorporated Woodstock's lyrics and structure into live renditions of their song "Dazed and Confused" between 1973 and 1975.
