Jonah is a folk singer. He was very big in the 1960s, an anti-war rallying point. He wrote one of the anthems for that decade. But the sixties are long ago, he's middle-aged and out of date. He writes his own songs, travels the country with a small band, while his wife--who loves him--contemplates a divorce. When does a man like Jonah stop being a brave individualist and become merely a middle-aged man hanging onto an obsolete self-image? His wife, who feels her life has been sidetracked, is a willing convert to the new consumer-oriented culture. So Jonah begins to deal with a "hitmaker" to guarantee a Top 40 sound. After hearing the results, Jonah wonders if sticking to what he believes might be preferable to success.