hi every one!well,i wanna ask a question to the metalheads in this forum:whats the relation between long hair and heavy metal?and why the most of heavy metal band members grow their hair?i heard that black sabbath toke it from the hippies?is it true?or its the middle age warrior image?
As a dedicated Metal fan, I don't think there's an official right answer to this but here's what I think:
- Longhair fits the look which is somewhat menacing like the music itself (I guess that depends on the sub-genre..), I can't look into a metal crowd and not see kutte vests accompanied by long hair, it's just simply a look Metalheads have adopted.
- Head banging - Longhair required. If it's done with short hair, the person looks deranged(perhaps with long hair too? haha)
- Opposition/Rebellion - Metal's main focus is typically on these two topics. Growing your hair long is opposing the sheep's style of short hair and becoming a goat among the sheep by growing your hair which is rebellious.
Black Sabbath taking the idea from the hippies? No.
Metal musicians grow their hair for various reasons, some of which I listed up there.: hi every one!well,i wanna ask a question to the metalheads in this forum:whats the relation between long hair and heavy metal?and why the most of heavy metal band members grow their hair?i heard that black sabbath toke it from the hippies?is it true?or its the middle age warrior image?
It all comes down to "against the norm." Short hair has always been considered the norm and long hair goes against that. Simple.
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Splat
Both metal and longhair on men is against the norm. I guess they just fit together.
Heavy metal is an offshoot of heavy rock, which began when long hair was in style generally in the '70s. Indirectly it was because of the hippies. The bands that early HM bands copied (e.g. Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin) would have considered themselves to be HR or progressive, and they had long hair because they basically were hippies. Nobody would have had long hair back then if it hadn't been for the hippies.
its wierd because there are alot of short hairs in metal bands too, for example phil labonte, but he usually wears a cap