Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In

"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In"
Song

"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)") written by James Rado, Gerome Ragni, and Galt MacDermot, and released as a single in 1969 by The 5th Dimension. The single held the number one position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and was certified Platinum.

The song listed at #57 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.[1]

History

The recording won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Group at the Grammy Awards of 1970, after it was released on the album The Age of Aquarius.

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. Forty years later, starting at 7:25am Greenwich Time on February 14, 2009, all of the astrological chart listed in the song actually aligned for 18 minutes. The moon was in the Seventh House (Associated with Venus and Libra) and Jupiter aligned with Mars. It is believed that this is truly the beginning of the Age of Aquarius.

"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" was ranked thirty-third on the 2004 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs.

Track listing

Side	Title	Length
A.	"Medley: Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In"	4:50
B.	"Don'tcha Hear Me Callin' To Ya"	3:54

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
1969	Billboard Black Singles	6
1969	Billboard Pop Singles	1
1969	Billboard Adult Contemporary	1
1969	Swiss charts	4
1969	Dutch Top 40	12

Cover versions and samplings

"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In"
Song

• 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 and peaked at the number one position for three weeks..
• "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.
• British comedian Vic Reeves also sang it.
• "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" is also used in commercials for the Kia Rondo.
• The "Aquarius" song is used in commercials for the Aquarius sports drink.
• The song "Let The Sunshine In" was remixed in 2003 by Solarys in a track given the same name.
• William Shatner sang a version of "Aquarius" in a commercial for Priceline.com.
• Société Bic (brand name, Bic) also used the song in the 2007 advertising campaign for the debut of their "Soleil Triple Blade Razors" in America.
• This song is sampled in the Mos Def song "Sunshine" on the album, The New Danger.
• The "Let the Sunshine In" portion of the medley was covered by the band Army of Lovers on their 2000 album, Le Grand Docu-Soap.
• The 1999 remake of The Out of Towners used "Aquarius" when Steve Martin's character has a psychedelic scene after ingesting a hallucinogenic.
• 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.
• Hans Zimmer created a version of the song for the opening sequence of Bird on a Wire (film).
• 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 .
• Lightspeed Champion covered the song on his Domino Records special edition covers EP. The track is listed as "The Flesh Failures".
• The song appears as the fifth track of the second disc of the soundtrack to the movie Forrest Gump.
• The "Let the Sunshine In" portion of the song is sampled in the Groove Terminator song "One More Time (The Sunshine Song)"
• French's mustard used portions of "Let The Sunshine in" for their commercials in the late 80s.

See also

• Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1969 (USA)