Three-Five-Zero-Zero
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"Three-Five-Zero-Zero" is an
anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...
song, from the 1967 musical ''
Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...
'', consisting of a
montage Montage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Filmmaking and films * Montage (filmmaking), a technique in film editing * ''Montage'' (2013 film), a South Korean film Music * Montage (music), or sound collage * ''Montage'' (EP), a 2017 EP by ...
of words and phrases similar to those of the 1966
Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...
poem " Wichita Vortex Sutra". In the song, the phrases are combined to create images of the violence of military combat and suffering of the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. In its first line, for instance, "Ripped open by metal explosion" is followed by "Caught in
barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...
/Fireball/Bullet shock". Ragni, Gerome and
James Rado James Alexander Radomski (January 23, 1932 – June 21, 2022), known professionally as James Rado, was an American actor, playwright, director, and composer, best known as the co-author, along with Gerome Ragni, of the 1967 musical ''Hair''. He ...
(Lyricists),
Galt MacDermot Arthur Terence Galt MacDermot (December 18, 1928 – December 17, 2018) was a Canadian-American composer, pianist and writer of musical theater. He won a Grammy Award for the song "African Waltz" in 1960. His most successful musicals were ''Hair ...
(Composer), and Original Broadway Cast (Vocalists). (1968) ''Hair'' udio Recording
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
. Event occurs at Track 28, "Three-Five-Zero-Zero".
The song begins with a slow, somber catalogue of violent images of death and dying, but its tone changes, as it becomes a manic dance number satirizing the American military's media attempts to gain support for the war by celebrating Vietnamese casualty statistics.Miller, Scott (2001). "HAIR – An analysis by Scott Miller"; excerpt from Rebels with applause: Broadway's groundbreaking musicals. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. At this point, the lyric begins a repeated refrain, "prisoners in Niggertown / it's a dirty little war", echoing Ginsberg's lines: : The war is over now — :: Except for the souls ::: held prisoner in Niggertown The cryptic line from the song that gives the song its title restates the line of the poem that attributes the phrase "Viet Cong losses leveling up three five zero zero per month" to General
Maxwell Taylor Maxwell Davenport Taylor (26 August 1901 – 19 April 1987) was a senior United States Army officer and diplomat during the Cold War. He served with distinction in World War II, most notably as commander of the 101st Airborne Division, nickname ...
and/or
Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American businessman and government official who served as the eighth United States secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson ...
in what it calls "Front page testimony February '66".Ginsberg, Allen
Initial portion of "II" in "Wichita Vortex Sutra"
/ref> (However, neither reference is valid). On the soundtrack, the song appears as a combined track with the song "What a Piece of Work Is Man", a recitation of the
What a piece of work is a man "What a piece of work is a man!" is a phrase within a monologue by Prince Hamlet in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. Hamlet is reflecting, at first admiringly, and then despairingly, on the human condition. The speech is recited at the end o ...
speech from
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
''.


See also

*
List of anti-war songs Some anti-war movement, anti-war songs lament aspects of wars, while others patronize war. Most promote peace in some form, while others sing out against specific armed conflicts. Still others depict the physical and psychological destruction that ...


References

1968 songs Songs from Hair (musical) Songs of the Vietnam War Anti-war songs Song articles with missing songwriters {{1960s-song-stub