| Hair – The Flesh Failures / Let The Sun Shine In Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I'll break it down verse by verse - keep in mind some of these verses have several meanings. The first refers to people looking at each other desperately for answers that are not coming from the government. We stand proudly together in this horrible situation (the reference to winter is a reference to death usually in Shakespeare). The reference to wearing smells from laboratories is very obscure but I suspect is a consumerist reference specifically referring to forms of colognes or other chemicals we use that would give us that smell of things constructed in laboratories - basically we are all trapped in the consumerist American culture built on things that are artificial like the chemicals we douse ourselves in every day. Facing a dying nation of moving paper fantasy listening for the new told lies refers to the lies the government told the American people refers to the thousands sent to die to Vietnam and the lies the government told the American people about them that were told through a paper based bureaucracy. With supreme visions of lonely tunes I can only hazard a guess refers to the godliness of man that is often alluded to in Hair and Hamlet, but while we are listening to the government's lies we look for the truth that is found in the beauty of man and in art and song - but the truth is each of us is lonely on this Earth and like Hamlet, we are alone in action and eternally seeking the truth. The rest is easier: The second verse refers to the beauty of man and the unknown equation that is life - Hamlet says "conscience doth make cowards of us all" (in reference to our inability to take our own lives rather than exist with the pain life brings). Instead of saying though why don't we kill ourselves, this poses people as being gods capable of greatness. I fashion my future on films in space refers not to "Film" like in a camera but is a more cosmic reference to the thin that creates our reality - this is a much more hippieish belief that we have control over our reality. Silence tells me everything is a duel reference. It is a reference to learning the truth of the universe in death (this is echoed by the shakespearean reference to "the rest is silence" which refers to death). It is also probably (but not for certain) a reference to the truth learned in the silence that is found in meditation where one experiences the true self - this is a belief that is found in Eastern philosophies and is substantiated by the evidence of other similar philosophies sprinkled through the play (the Hare Krishna song, references to astral projection, etc.). The reference with Claud making references to Romeo & Juliet & Hamlet ties him to the meaning of those plays more but more embraces the finality of his death as he embraces what he was in life but also that his stint on this world has ended. The verse about singing our space songs on a spider web sitar is a reference to how all of the play prior has been a natural part of the cosmic existence as is Claud's death. The reference to Timothy Leary doesn't fit quite as well but I submit that it has to do with whether Claud's use of drugs in life (and probably referring to his "trip" in the second half of the show) were real spiritual experiences that expanded his consciousness into the future, or were the hallucinations and drugs just that - I think it's saying that these drugs were positive and did let Claud expand his mind and spirit into the future. The final bit is a plea based on the concept of Flower Children and also eastern philosophies where light equals truth and life (Love & Light is a frequent wish people who believe this wish each other). They say it 3 different ways reinforcing the importance of letting the truth into our lives, seeking it from the government, and a wish for peace in the world - that if we could all just let the sun shine into our lives, we would not fight, and we would not have to die like Claud did - so bring that message home with you. |
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