Hair song title question

[sparrman]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 9:43am

While I guess the real title is "The Flesh Failures", is the secondary title "Let the Sunshine In" or "Let the Sun Shine In"?

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 12:37pm

It was originally "The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)", but I've just taken a look at a revised score and it has "Let the Sun Shine In." However, in the lyrics in the score, it has the dash to separate syllables of a single word ("sun-shine"), so I would assume that they just changed the title in the score because everyone keeps getting it wrong. They certainly are two different meanings. Looking at the marquee for Hair on Broadway, they seem to be taking the "sun shine" route, but I will stand by "sunshine," as it was the original intention for the song.

~Steven

[sparrman]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 2:11pm

Thanks much for the answer. Since posting the question, I see that it's "Sun Shine" on the Tams Witmark website, plus I found online a scan from the original Broadway program which has "Sun Shine". So I'm thinking it's rightly two words. There are certainly many instances of "Sunshine" though, including the OBC CD.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 2:42pm

Going by the lyric (coughandthescriptbeforemecough) alone, it's supposed to be "Sun Shine".

LET THE SUN SHINE
LET THE SUN SHINE IN
THE SUN SHINE IN

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 4:31pm

Actually, the lyric is written in the score (coughwhichisbeforemecough) as such:

Let the sunshine,
Let the sunshine in,
The sunshine in

And it is clearly written "Sunshine" on the original cast recording and other recordings, including the recent Actors' Fund recording.

I've musically directed this show before. A strong case can be made for the intention to be "sunshine." First of all, the lyric is written that way in the score. Secondly, the stress melodically and rhythmically is on the syllable "sun" instead of the would-be verb "shine." "Sunshine" has the emphasis on the first syllable, whereas "sun shine" should have it on the verb "shine," so I think it would make more sense for it being "sunshine."

~Steven

[sparrman]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 7:55pm

Enjoying this discussion... thanks for all the input!

Scott Miller's book on "Hair" is entitled "Let the Sun Shine In". One would think he would have researched the topic enough to get the title of his book accurate, but who knows?

I find the usage of "Sun Shine" in the original Broadway program to be an all-but-overwhelming argument for that option.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 2/3/09 at 1:37am

Yes, but then why would every cast recording say "Sunshine"?

I think it's one of those things that people just got wrong from the beginning and no one bothered to correct them, so it was eventually interpolated into the show. For all we know, that could have been a typo in the original program. Sometimes songs have different program titles, including those in Hair. For example, the segment of music with the phrase in question ("Let the sunshine/sun shine in") is actually called "Eyes Look Your Last." "The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)" is only the first two verses before Claude reprises "Manchester, England." "Ain't Got No (Reprise)" is actually called "Ain't Got No Grass." "Walking in Space (Reprise)" is really "How Dare They Try." There are many discrepancies between what is usually listed in the program as opposed to what it actually is. "Let the Sun Shine In," I would think, is another example. There are even discrepancies within the licensed scripts and scores. So who knows... But all of the various cast recordings list it as "Sunshine." I don't think all of them would be wrong at the same time.

~Steven

[sparrman]

Posted: 2/3/09 at 11:03am

Hey Mr Music --

I'm thoroughly appreciative of your input, and glad someone other than myself can be as obsessive on these points! It *does* matter, really, from an interpretive standpoint, as you say.

But I think I've got it conclusively solved as "Sun Shine". The OBC recording may *read* "Sunshine", but what do they *sing*? In the third line of the refrain, there is a very clear breath, repeatedly, between "sun" and "shine":

Let the sun shine
Let the sun shine in
The sun (breath) shine in

I wouldn't call the chorus of Hair one of the more "precise" choruses in Broadway history, but that consistent group breath means irrefutably to me that it's two words. Plus, two words makes the first line a complete thought, and not just a fragment of the full thought in the second line.

To me, the song is what's *sung*, much more than how it happens to be written variably in this script or that score. So I feel it's solved, but respect your right to disagree!

Updated On: 2/3/09 at 11:03 AM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 2/3/09 at 1:10pm

I will continue to disagree, but that is a good point. I have not listened to the recording in a while, so it's good to know.

I think the reason I personally like it better as "sunshine" is because they are telling everyone to let in the sunshine, let it into their lives as if it were something they can keep with them and pass on to others. It is a different meaning than "let the sun shine," as if that were the complete sentence as you say.

But alas, this will be disputed for a long time to come since there is evidence for both sides. :)

~Steven

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 2/5/09 at 1:59pm

That's not the point, it's not about letting sunshine into your life and spreading it to others. It's about "HEY! THIS GUY DIED FOR NO REASON! PAY A-F*CKING-TTENTION SO THIS NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN! THOSE WHO FORGET THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT! GET THE COBWEBS OUT OF THERE! LET THE SUN SHINE IN BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!" It's a true militant statement, it's not the happy-clappy Fifth Dimension number by any means.

Think about it. The hippies we've all read about, the popular radical activists, refused to go to Vietnam, or avoided the draft in 1,001 ways. Claude didn't. He did what he was supposed to do, against his better judgment. And he didn't get anything for it. No medals of honor, no decorations, he didn't even return home alive. What was it all worth? An innocent life destroyed in a pointless war? What was the sum of it all? This song is asking us to understand that there was no point, and that we need to wake up to this fact (i.e., "let the sun shine in") before we do it again.

Looking at Iraq, shows how much we learned from that lesson.

Updated On: 2/5/09 at 01:59 PM

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 2/5/09 at 2:07pm

Can I vote for it being both "sunshine" and "sun shine?"

To me, it feel like:

Let the sun shine (two seperate words)
Let the sun shine (again)
Let the sunshine in (One word)

I dunno...maybe that's just me.