When we were putting together “Hair” we got many curious visitors. One young man was a black Vietnam vet. 3-5-0-0 was a code used by Army Officers in the field that meant it was a dangerous mission so to send black soldiers. It got to be so obvious the enlisted men, black and white, questioned the 3-5-0-0 orders as unfair- only to get punished. The young man said the black soldiers felt like prisoners because they couldn’t protest or quit, and he showed me a crumpled piece of paper and said he wanted to turn it into a poem, and he was hoping I could help him. I asked, “What makes you think this isn’t a poem?” I asked if I could use it as a song. It is a complete poem and not taken from any longer piece. I don’t remember his name.
I wrote and directed the musical Hair. Since I was a very young woman the powers that be said it was written and put together by men. I had one man’s help with the melodies, but that’s it. The casualties in Vietnam were 70% black and the army’s makeup was 35% black.
When we were putting together “Hair” we got many curious visitors. One young man was a black Vietnam vet. 3-5-0-0 was a code used by Army Officers in the field that meant it was a dangerous mission so to send black soldiers. It got to be so obvious the enlisted men, black and white, questioned the 3-5-0-0 orders as unfair- only to get punished. The young man said the black soldiers felt like prisoners because they couldn’t protest or quit, and he showed me a crumpled piece of paper and said he wanted to turn it into a poem, and he was hoping I could help him. I asked, “What makes you think this isn’t a poem?” I asked if I could use it as a song. It is a complete poem and not taken from any longer piece. I don’t remember his name. I wrote and directed the musical Hair. Since I was a very young woman the powers that be said it was written and put together by men. I had one man’s help with the melodies, but that’s it. The casualties in Vietnam were 70% black and the army’s makeup was 35% black.