Facing a dying nation: Hair redux

[canetoad]

I saw it three times on stage; 1971 when still legally not old enough to see nudity on stage. Again a year later Then a strange revival in the grunge cafe district north of the Melbourne CBD. It was good, proficient, technically correct, but something was missing. The ratbaggery of the 60s/70s. And the innocence.

I had the original cast recording on vinyl and damn near wore it out, learning every word. Still listen to parts of it now over five decades on. Young people fought authority, control and death. They knew the world was not OK but they kept their hopes up anyway. There's a beautiful dichotomy to this song. The words say Let the Sun Shine in, but it's written in a minor key; and the music holds a tone of menacing doom.