Freak Flag...
the practice (the late 50s to 70s was its heyday, but it still goes on) of keeping
long hair (on men) as a sign of '
quiet rebellion' against the
oppressive,
conformist world that they're forced to live in. A
shame, I suppose, that it doesn't work, that they're
oppressed even more, that their peers join in the opression of all ideas (at least, from my experience), and that
shampoo bills (for those that believe in
shampoo) get
exponentially higher.
The "freak flag" is mentioned in
Jimi Hendrix's "
if 6 was 9":
"white-collared conservative flashing down the street
pointing their plastic finger at me
yeah, well, soon my kind will drop and die,
but i'm gonna wave my freak flag high!"
And, in
Crosby, Stills, and Nash's
Almost Cut My Hair:
"Almost cut my hair
Happened just the other day
It was getting kinda long
Coulda said it wasn't my way,
But I didn't, and I wonder why,
feel like letting my freak flag fly
Yes, I feel, like I almost
almost cut my hair."