Daily Jam - Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In

It’s a little embarrassing to admit to how much I like “Aquarius.” How much I love “Aquarius.” I’ve never even seen Hair before, so I can’t attest to the quality of that musical, but as far as The 5th Dimension’s 1969 version of the tune goes, I am happily and steadily on board, a devotee if you will.

A lot of music I listen to (and love) could easily be filed under the doom and gloom category, but I’ve got to cut loose every now and then. Sometimes you have to skew happy. To quote a movie that a fellow blogging friend of mine absolutely abhors, “it can’t rain all the time.” The “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” medley, the opening song from The Age of Aquarius LP is that kind of song for me. It is an instant mood elevator. A happy pill. From the spacey, psych-pop intro and astrology-laced verses, to the glorious mini-mantra of “let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in,” the song is a kind of elixir to my sad bastard blues. And maybe it’s a little cheesy, but goddamn it, it’s good cheese.

It makes me want to wear ill-advised and ill-fitting pants and dance shirtless in a field of poppies somewhere. It makes me realize why anyone would ever listen to a hippie in the first place*. It makes me want to tune in, turn on, and drop out…man.

But mostly, it just puts a smile on my face, and sometimes that’s all you really need, even if it’s only for a few fleeting moments, the length of a pop song.

*Author’s note: do not listen to hippies. They are usually full of shit.

Listen below, our Daily Jam.