Hair
Have you ever seen Hair? Having loved this show for years, I was ecstatic to hear that it was coming back to Broadway.
...and then I moved to London. Blast!
But! I was able to go see it when I visited New York a few weeks ago. And let me tell you - after all these years, I was still moved by it. My friend Maya was in the cast, and when she sang "What A Piece Of Work Is Man," I wept. It was just so beautiful. Afterward, I got to go backstage and see her. She's perfect in the show, and the show is perfect on Broadway. If I lived there, I'd be seeing the show every week.
I hadn't really listened to the soundtrack in years, but I really loved it growing up. Seeing the show again made me reconnect with the music in a whole new way. I hadn't realized how much this show actually shaped who I am today.
When I was in high school and first coming to terms with my sexuality, Mikey and I used to check out musical soundtracks from the library. I know, so gay, right? But Hair was one of the first ones we discovered and I just remember loving it. It was scandalous, funny, emotional, and really catchy.
It was also one of the first times I was exposed to homosexuality in mainstream culture. Hair has been coined the "Love-Rock Musical" but the messages about love extend beyond just the romantic kind. It's about hippies, after all, and the Vietnam War. We never talked politics in my house growing up, and if you have ever met my parents, you know that even though they lived through the hippy generation, they were certainly not hippies. So I'd always wondered why I was so crazy liberal, having never been formally taught to be that way.
The reason I paid so close attention to the lessons in the show is because they were taught in song. Not only did the songs talk about sex in a positive and joyous way ("Sodomy," anyone?), but they also talked about government, freedom, love, and war. When I heard the lines in "Walking In Space" again, it hit me. This is it! This is where I learned my politics!
All the clouds are cumuloft
Walking in space
Oh my God your skin is soft
I love your face
How dare they try to end this beauty?
How dare they try to end this beauty?
To keep us under foot
They bury us in soot
Pretending it's a chore
To ship us off to war
Granted, this song is sung during an acid trip, but it's still moves me to this day. Seeing the beauty in people, and the ugliness in war is a very important lesson that everyone should learn. And appreciating the beauty in people extends beyond wartime politics. I try to live my life seeing the good in people. If I'm rubbed the wrong way by someone or something, I try to remember that I'm not seeing the whole picture. There's beauty in there somewhere, I just need to look harder. I know I don't always do it, but I do make the effort most of the time.
I think the best lesson I learned from this show is when one of the characters says, "I wish every mother and father would go home tonight and make a speech to their teenagers and say, 'Kids - be free. Be whoever you are and do whatever you want to do. Just as long as you don't hurt anyone.'" It's so simple, isn't it? That has sort of became my mantra. My parents never told me to be free. They weren't bad parents - on the contrary, I think they were amazing parents. But they never sat me down and told me that I should follow my passion. That I should not settle for less. They never really gave me any input as to what to do with my life at all, now that I think about it. Despite this, I made the decision way back in high school that I was going to do whatever I wanted to do. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone. And look at my life so far - I think I'd held to that, don't you? Now that I look back, I am certain I was encouraged by this very line in the show.
It was really quite an amazing discovery to go back to my high school coming of age years and rediscover how I got to be who I am. And it's even more amazing that I can just pop in the recording at any time and be reminded why I'm here and what's important. Plus, the new recording has MY FRIEND MAYA on it. I mean, how many other people can listen to one of their grown up friends singing about their high school years?
Peace, Love, Flowers, Happiness!
...and then I moved to London. Blast!
But! I was able to go see it when I visited New York a few weeks ago. And let me tell you - after all these years, I was still moved by it. My friend Maya was in the cast, and when she sang "What A Piece Of Work Is Man," I wept. It was just so beautiful. Afterward, I got to go backstage and see her. She's perfect in the show, and the show is perfect on Broadway. If I lived there, I'd be seeing the show every week.
I hadn't really listened to the soundtrack in years, but I really loved it growing up. Seeing the show again made me reconnect with the music in a whole new way. I hadn't realized how much this show actually shaped who I am today.
When I was in high school and first coming to terms with my sexuality, Mikey and I used to check out musical soundtracks from the library. I know, so gay, right? But Hair was one of the first ones we discovered and I just remember loving it. It was scandalous, funny, emotional, and really catchy.
It was also one of the first times I was exposed to homosexuality in mainstream culture. Hair has been coined the "Love-Rock Musical" but the messages about love extend beyond just the romantic kind. It's about hippies, after all, and the Vietnam War. We never talked politics in my house growing up, and if you have ever met my parents, you know that even though they lived through the hippy generation, they were certainly not hippies. So I'd always wondered why I was so crazy liberal, having never been formally taught to be that way.
The reason I paid so close attention to the lessons in the show is because they were taught in song. Not only did the songs talk about sex in a positive and joyous way ("Sodomy," anyone?), but they also talked about government, freedom, love, and war. When I heard the lines in "Walking In Space" again, it hit me. This is it! This is where I learned my politics!
All the clouds are cumuloft
Walking in space
Oh my God your skin is soft
I love your face
How dare they try to end this beauty?
How dare they try to end this beauty?
To keep us under foot
They bury us in soot
Pretending it's a chore
To ship us off to war
Granted, this song is sung during an acid trip, but it's still moves me to this day. Seeing the beauty in people, and the ugliness in war is a very important lesson that everyone should learn. And appreciating the beauty in people extends beyond wartime politics. I try to live my life seeing the good in people. If I'm rubbed the wrong way by someone or something, I try to remember that I'm not seeing the whole picture. There's beauty in there somewhere, I just need to look harder. I know I don't always do it, but I do make the effort most of the time.
I think the best lesson I learned from this show is when one of the characters says, "I wish every mother and father would go home tonight and make a speech to their teenagers and say, 'Kids - be free. Be whoever you are and do whatever you want to do. Just as long as you don't hurt anyone.'" It's so simple, isn't it? That has sort of became my mantra. My parents never told me to be free. They weren't bad parents - on the contrary, I think they were amazing parents. But they never sat me down and told me that I should follow my passion. That I should not settle for less. They never really gave me any input as to what to do with my life at all, now that I think about it. Despite this, I made the decision way back in high school that I was going to do whatever I wanted to do. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone. And look at my life so far - I think I'd held to that, don't you? Now that I look back, I am certain I was encouraged by this very line in the show.
It was really quite an amazing discovery to go back to my high school coming of age years and rediscover how I got to be who I am. And it's even more amazing that I can just pop in the recording at any time and be reminded why I'm here and what's important. Plus, the new recording has MY FRIEND MAYA on it. I mean, how many other people can listen to one of their grown up friends singing about their high school years?
Peace, Love, Flowers, Happiness!