![]() Let's break out the booze and have a ball, if that's all there is.” ![]() Why she just doesn’t kill herself? The singer replies she’s “in no hurry for that final disappointment.” As the chilling song concludes, Peggy sings, “If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing. The most cynical record of the year was Peggy Lee’s rendition of the nihilistic masterpiece by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, “Is That All There Is?” Verse after verse finds Lee uttering that question every time she experiences one of life’s highs or lows. Other hits - like Blood, Sweat & Tears' “And, When I Die” - confronted death itself. Harry Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin' " and Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer” expressed feelings of alienation and despair. Songs about gloom and doom were everywhere. We don't burn no draft cards down on Main Street, we like livin' right and bein' free.” Merle Haggard championed the other side of the political divide with his country hit “Okie from Muskogee”: “We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee, we don't take no trips on LSD. The nation had no logical reason to think that 1969 was going to be any better, but The 5th Dimension’s hit at least offered hope. The ubiquitous violence was set against a dark backdrop of an escalating war in Vietnam. and Bobby Kennedy, over 100 race riots and innumerable campus protests. That nightmare year saw the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. The joyous sound and positive message resonated with Americans still reeling from the horrors of 1968. “When the moon is in the 7th house and Jupiter aligns with Mars,” sang The 5th Dimension, “then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars.” The second part of the song was less certain of the outcome, beseeching listeners to “let the sunshine in.” The first part celebrated the dawning of a countercultural utopia - a new America in an Age of Aquarius. ![]() ![]() 1 hit in America was The 5th Dimension’s “ Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.” The song, which came from the Broadway musical "Hair," reflected the hopeful but apprehensive mood of the country. ![]()
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