"Hair" is the title song to the 1967 musical Hair and the 1979 film adaptation of the musical.
The musicalâÂÂs title song begins as character Claude slowly croons his reason for his long hair, as tribe-mate Berger joins in singing they "don't know." They lead the tribe, singing "Give me a head with hair," "as long as God can grow it," listing what they want in a head of hair and their uses for it. Later the song takes the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner" with the tribe punning "Oh say can you see/ My eyes if you can/Then my hairâÂÂs too short!" Claude and BergerâÂÂs religious references continue with many a "Hallelujah" as they consciously compare their hair to JesusâÂÂs, and if Mary loved her son, "why donâÂÂt my mother love me?" The song shows the Tribe's enthusiasm and pride for their hair as well as comparing Claude to a Jesus figure.
The song was a major hit for the Cowsills in 1969 and tied with "The Rain, the Park & Other Things" as their most successful single. The Cowsills' version cuts out most of the religion-themed lyrics, changing "long as God can grow it" to "long as I can grow it" and removing some verses. Their version spent two weeks at number one on the Cash Box Top 100 and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. "Hair" was kept out of the number-one spot by another song from the Hair cast album: "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by The 5th Dimension. It also reached number one on the RPM Canadian Singles Chart.
"Hair" was also covered in Australia in 1969 and released as a single by Doug Parkinson in Focus (B-side with "Without You") and was a top ten hit for him there that year.
A version by Dutch rock band Zen reached the top of the Dutch Top 40 in January 1969. A cover was released as a B-side by girl group Gilded Cage in 1969.
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