Hair (Hair song)
| "Hair" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
| "Hair" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "What Is Happy?" |
"Hair" is the title song to the 1968 musical Hair and 1979 film adaptation of the musical.
Context in the musical
The musical’s title song begins as character Claude slowly croons his reason for his long hair, as tribe-mate Berger joins in singing they deem they “don’t know.”[1] They lead the tribe, singing “Give me a head with hair,” “as long as God can grow it,”[1] listing what they want in a head of hair and their uses for it. Later the song takes the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner” with the tribe punning “Oh say can you see/ My eyes if you can/Then my hair’s too short!”[1] Claude and Berger’s religious references continue with many a “Hallelujah” as they consciously compare their hair to Jesus’s, and if Mary loved her son, “why don’t my mother love me?”[1][2] The song shows the Tribe's enthusiasm and pride for their hair as well as comparing Claude to a Jesus figure.[2]
Cover versions
The song was a major hit single for the Cowsills in 1969 and their most successful single. Their version spent two weeks at #1 on the Cash Box Top 100[3] and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.[4] It also reached #1 on the RPM Canadian Singles Chart.[5]
The song was also covered in Australia in 1969 and released as a single by Doug Parkinson in Focus (B-side with "Without You") and was a top ten hit for him there that year.[6]
A version by Dutch rock band Zen reached the top of the Dutch Top 40 in January 1969.[7]
Appearances in media
- On The Simpsons episode, "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious", the song is played in the background as Marge's hair starts to fall out from stress.[8]
- On The Simpsons episode, "D'oh-in' in the Wind", the song is played in the hippies' car as Homer wears a jester hat.[9]
- In 2009, the song was used in a mash-up with Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" in the Glee episode 11, "Hairography".[10]
- The title song as well as another song from the musical "Good Morning Starshine" were featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000" in the Season 5, 8th episode "Hercules Unchained".[11]
- In My Wife and Kids episode, "The Sweet Hairafter", Michael Kyle (Damon Wayans), sings the song playing his keyboard, while his hair supplement grows in.
- In the 2015 animated film Minions, Stuart used a "hypno hat" to hypnotise the palace guards while breaking into the Tower of London, and made them sing the song, dance, strip to their underwear and let their hair down.
References
- Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (6th ed. 1996), p. 148.
- ^ a b c d Hair lyrics
- ^ a b Hair Archives
- ^ Cashbox Magazine Archive
- ^ Billboard - Hair
- ^ Canadian Singles Chart - May 12, 1969
- ^ [Australian Chart Book 1970-1992]
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 - week 1, 1969" (in Dutch). Retrieved March 13, 2010.
- ^ Simpsons Season 8 Episode 13 Soundtrack
- ^ Simpsons Season 10 Episode 6 Soundtrack
- ^ Hairography
- ^ Hercules Unchained
- Notes
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 - week 49, 1968". Retrieved March 13, 2010.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 - week 4, 1969". Retrieved March 13, 2010.