Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In

"Let the Sunshine In" redirects here. For other uses, see Let the Sunshine In (disambiguation).
"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In"
Single by The 5th Dimension
from the album The Age of Aquarius
Released March 1969
Genre Psychedelic soul, sunshine pop
Length 4:49
Label Soul City
Writer(s) James Rado
Gerome Ragni
Galt MacDermot
Producer(s) Bones Howe
Certification Platinum (US)
The 5th Dimension singles chronology
"California Soul"
(1969)
"Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)"
(1969)
"Workin' On a Groovy Thing"
(1969)
Music sample
"Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)"

"Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" (commonly called "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "The Age of Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine In") is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical Hair by James Rado & Gerome Ragni (lyrics), and Galt MacDermot (music), released as a single by American R&B group The 5th Dimension. The song peaked at number one for six weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in the spring of 1969. The single topped the American pop charts and was eventually certified platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA.[1] Instrumental backing was provided by session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew.[2]Something seen as a "rarity", the song was recorded in two cities, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, then later mixed in the studio.

The song listed at number 66 on Billboard's "Greatest Songs of All Time".[3]

History

This song was one of the most popular songs of 1969 worldwide, and in the United States it reached the number one position on both the Billboard Hot 100 (for six weeks in April and May) and the Billboard Adult Contemporaries Chart. It also reached the top of the sales charts in Canada and elsewhere. Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 record overall for 1969.[4]

The recording won both the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group for the Grammy Awards of 1970, after being published on the album The Age of Aquarius by the 5th Dimension, and also being released as a seven-inch vinyl single record.

The lyrics of this song were based on the astrological belief that the world would soon be entering the "Age of Aquarius", an age of love, light, and humanity, unlike the current "Age of Pisces". The exact circumstances for the change are "When the moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars." This change was presumed to occur at the end of the 20th century; however, astrologers differ extremely widely as to when. Their proposed dates range from 2062 to 2680.

"Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" was ranked 33rd on the 2004 AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs.

Track listing

Side Title Length
A. "Medley: Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" 4:50

radio edit 3:07

B. "Don'tcha Hear Me Callin' To Ya" 3:54
"Aquarius"
A chorus from the Original Broadway Cast

"The Flesh Failures/Let the Sunshine In"
The last verse of "The Flesh Failures" and first chorus of "Let the Sunshine In" from the Original Broadway Cast

Problems playing these files? See media help.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1969) Peak
position
Australia 3
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 11
Canada RPM Singles 1
Dutch Top 40[5] 12
Finland 2
Germany 3
New Zealand (Listener)[6] 6
Switzerland[7] 4
UK Singles Chart 11
US Billboard Hot 100 1
US Billboard Pop Singles 1
US Billboard Adult Contemporary 1
US Billboard Black Singles 6

Year-end charts

Chart (1969) Rank
Canada[8] 3
US Billboard Hot 100[9] 2
US Cash Box[10] 3

Cover versions

In popular culture

In 1970, "Let The Sunshine In" was used in an Ad Council PSA for the National Urban Coalition; the commercial promoted racial harmony using a large all-star choir including cameos by Ray Charles, Peggy Cass, Johnny Carson, Will Geer and Leonard Nimoy.

"Let the Sunshine In" has been adopted by soccer fans in Argentina and popularized in Uruguay's "Soy Celeste" to proclaim their support.

Peter Lawford sang the song "Aquarius" in the Hollywood Palace in November 1969.

The song also appeared in episode 3 ("Harmony of the Worlds") of Carl Sagan's Cosmos during a sequence debunking the practice of astrology.[18]

In episode 16, season 3 of The Simpsons ("Bart the Lover"), "Age of Aquarius" is played during a yo-yo demonstration at a school assembly.[19]

The song appeared at the end of the 2001 movie Recess: School's Out.

A sample of the song as it appears in the film Hair carries the main loop of the Boards of Canada song of the same name, appearing on their debut LP.

The beginning of the song is heard during a flashback at the start of episode 2 of American Horror Story Season 1: Murder House

See also

References

  1. AllMusic.com The Age of Aquarius page Accessed: November 8, 2013
  2. Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew. St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 261–263. ISBN 978-1-250-03046-7.
  3. "Hot 100 55th Anniversary: The All-Time Top 100 Songs". Billboard. 1980-12-08. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  4. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1969
  5. Top4000.nl Chart week 23, 1969. Accessed: November 26, 2006
  6. Flavour of New Zealand, June 27, 1969. Accessed: November 27, 2016
  7. SwissCharts.com Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" page. Accessed: November 26, 2006
  8. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  9. "Top 100 Hits of 1969/Top 100 Songs of 1969". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  10. The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1969. Accessed: November 27, 2016
  11. "Donna Summer discography" (in Italian). Donnasummer.it. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  12. Mercy, Love Can Make You Happy Retrieved May 7, 2015
  13. NVPI.nl Certification page. Accessed: November 26, 2006
  14. Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, 500 Nr. 1 Hits uit de Top 40, page 330, ISBN 90-230-0944-4 (Book in Dutch)
  15. "Lightspeed Champion". Archived from the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
  16. "Chico Arnez". Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  17. "Prex-3-CZ-Let the Sunshine-Youtube". Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  18. "Carl Sagan on the pseudoscience of Astrology". YouTube. 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  19. "The Simpsons UK Cuts, Season 3 — Simpsons Crazy". www.simpsoncrazy.com. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
Preceded by
"Dizzy" by Tommy Roe
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
April 12, 1969 (six weeks)
Succeeded by
"Get Back" by The Beatles
Preceded by
"Time of the Season" by The Zombies
RPM Canadian Singles Chart number-one single
April 7, 1969 - April 21, 1969 (three weeks)
Succeeded by
"You've Made Me So Very Happy" by Blood, Sweat & Tears
Preceded by
"Galveston" by Glen Campbell
Billboard Easy Listening Singles number-one single (The Fifth Dimension version)
May 10, 1969 (two weeks)
Succeeded by
"Happy Heart" by Andy Williams
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