SONG OF THE DAY

“Aquarius/ Let The Sunshine In” by The 5th Dimension (The Age of Aquarius, Soul City Records, 1969). Written by James Rado, Gerome Ragni, and Galt MacDermot.

MY TAKE

I was actually raised on this cover version, rather than the Hair soundtrack, as any responsible parent who is a fan of Hair should rightly do (though dad did let us throw our hair back and forth to the title song of the musical a few times). This cover is wholesome and harmonious, and frankly I love it. Now, of course, I’ve seen and love Hair, but this version stays with me too. Maybe it’s because it’s so clearly associated with carefree, easier times—times not only from my childhood but the times and vibes The 5th Dimension captured when they recorded the song at the end of the 1960’s.

INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)

Well, I already talked a lot about The 5th Dimension in a blog post last week about their classic single “Up, Up & Away”, so for now I’ll just include some facts about the song and their cover of it.

– “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In”, sometimes referred to as “The Age of Aquarius” or “Let the Sunshine In”, is a medley of two songs from the musical Hair (“Aquarius” and “The Flesh Failures (Let The Sunshine In)”).

– The single held the #1 position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 becoming the first medley to ever achieve this feat and was eventually certified Platinum.

– The song listed at #57 on Billboard’s Greatest Songs of all time.

– This song was one of the most popular songs of 1969, worldwide, and in the United States it reached the #1 position on both the Billboard Hot 100 (for six weeks in April and May) and the Billboard magazine Adult Contemporaries Chart. It also reached the top of the sales charts in Canada, and elsewhere.

– The recording won both the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group for the Grammy Awards of 1970, after being published on the album The Age of Aquarius by The 5th Dimension, and also being released as a seven-inch vinyl single record.

– The lyrics of this song were based on the astrological belief that the world would soon be entering the “Age of Aquarius”, an age of love, light, and humanity, unlike the then current “Age of Pisces”. This change was presumed to occur at the end of the 20th century; however, major astrologers differ extremely widely as to when. Their proposed dates range from 2062 (Dane Rudhyar), 2150 (Neil Mann), and 2595 (Hermann Haupt), to 2680 (Shephard Simpson).

– “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” was ranked thirty-third on the 2004 AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs.

– Andy Williams recorded a cover of the song, as highlighted in his Best of… album

– Diana Ross & The Supremes recorded a cover on their 1969 Let the Sunshine In album

– The Undisputed Truth recorded a version called “Aquarius” for their 1971 self-titled LP.

– The song appears as the fifth track of the second disc of the soundtrack to the 1994 movie Forrest Gump.

– In the 2001 Disney movie Recess: School’s Out, “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” plays during the end of the movie, moving into the credits with the chorus “Let The Sunshine In”.

– The “Let the Sunshine In” portion of the song was used as one of the official theme songs for the 2008 general election campaign of Barack Obama.

– “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” is also used in commercials for the Kia Rondo.

– William Shatner sang a version of “Aquarius” in a commercial for Priceline.com.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

This video is a-freaking-mazing: