Track 13:

Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In

Performed by Helena
Written by Ragni, Rado & MacDermott/EMI Music Publishing
Excerpt from the STC's production of Haircut licenced courtesy of Sydney Theatre Company
Produced by BLAM, Mixed by Paul Mac
Inspired by the 1988 production of Haircut

"Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in..."

I think this upbeat track certainly does 'let the sun shine in' to your stereo by creating a most uplifting mixture of sounds. Intentional vinyl crackling adds to the musical intensity, and the song has a great rhythm. The track was inspired by Haircut, the first production that Luhrmann produced through the Sydney Theatre Company, as he explains below.

Here's what Baz Luhrmann had to say about Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In:

"In 1988 one of the first projects I was in charge of was the creation of a limited-life professional theatre company under the umbrella of the Sydney Theatre Company. The first show we did was called "Haircut," and was an exploration of 80's materialism, a musical set in a hairdressing salon, the look of which was based on the musical "Hair." The salon was called "Haircut." On the opening night of the salon, a group of 80's club-going sophisticates drop a mind-altering substance and find themselves actually in the musical Hair dressed like a lot of 60's hippies. This version of Let the Sun Shine In/Aquarius is newly created, but based on the kind of treatment that we attempted in the show."