"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", sometimes incorrectly known 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)") written by James Rado, Gerome Ragni and Galt MacDermot, and released as a single in 1969 by The Fifth Dimension. The single held the number one position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and was certified Platinum.[1]
The song was based on the astrological belief that the world would 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.
Helena Paparizou , Greek female singer, covered "Aquarius/Let the sunshine in" at her performance at the Mad Video Music Awards 2007.
"Pop-gabber Dutch band, the Party Animals covered "Aquarius" on their debut album Good Vibrations in 1996. The single was certified Platinum [4] and peaked at the number one position for three weeks.[5].
"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" is performed with dancing at the conclusion of the 2005 movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin after the lead character's first sexual encounter.
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.
Bob Rivers recorded a parody entitled "I Think it's Time to Clean My Aquarium".
Milk & Sugar, a German dance music production duo, have recorded a chart-topping remake of the "Let the Sunshine In" portion.
The U.K. electronic/ambient artist Boards of Canada samples portions of the movie soundtrack version for their own track of the same name as featured on their album Music Has The Right To Children.
In The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005), the cast sings the song (and reproduces a scene from the movie version of Hair) as the closing sequence.
In 2008, Mike Doughty used the "Let the Sunshine In" portion in the chorus of his song "Fort Hood" on the album Golden Delicious.
The Dresden Dolls have been known to perform covers of The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In).
Andy Williams has also recorded the song, as highlighted in his 'Best of . . .' album
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.
Daniel Johnston performed a live on-air semi-cover (involving him adding his own vocals over the original track) on WFMU on February 4th, 1990 .
References
↑AllMusic.comThe Age of Aquarius page Accessed: November 26, 2006
↑SwissCharts.com "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" page. Accessed: November 26, 2006
↑Top4000.nl Chart week 23, 1969. Accessed: November 26, 2006
↑NVPI.nl Certification page. Accessed: November 26, 2006
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