A case can be made for saying Jennifer Warnes, the man’s backing vocalist from the beginning, almost singlehandedly revived the flagging career of a rock-poet already – in 1987 – in his 50s but whose greatest work lay still ahead. There’s more to Jennifer Warnes though than her being one of the most gifted interpreters of Leonard Cohen.
Here she is, back in – titter ye not – ’69. The musical Hair pushed the boundaries on nudity and a few other things besides but you could barely cross the street without somebody somewhere was humming something about the dawning of the age of Aquarius.
Whatever that meant.
Hair also provided an early showcase for the power and intelligence of her singing in the role of Sheila. Like when she exhorted us to let the sunshine in.
For the lyrics, click “watch on YouTube”. What a time to be young!
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