Global Sounds
music note
timyoungonline.com

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus Christ Superstar: Mining the meaning of the '70 rock opera

by Tim Young

Jesus Christ Superstar

DISC ONE

1. Overture (3:56)

An instrumental based on Trial Before Pilate, which appears much later in the opera. Perhaps Trial Before Pilate was chosen because it's really the centerpiece of the opera, in terms of the issues it explores. More on that when the time comes.

2. Heaven on Their Minds (4:21)

In spite of the opera's name, Judas really seems to be the central character of the opera—or, at least, it's told from his point of view. Indeed, he is the first character to appear, doing this entire track solo. Stating "My mind is clearer now," Judas says he realizes now where Jesus actions are leading, and he's displeased. Judas thinks that Jesus is starting to get too full of himself, puffed up by what others say about him:

You've started to believe the things they say of you

You really do believe this talk of God is true.

And now the good you've done will soon get swept away

You've begun to matter more than the things you say.

He concludes:

All your followers are blind

Too much heaven on their minds

It was beautiful but now it's sour

Yes it's all gone sour.

In fact, like all the other characters, Judas is totally clueless as to what Jesus' true purpose is. He warns Jesus to keep from stirring up trouble if he doesn't want to be killed, not realizing that Jesus believes he must be killed.

While Judas' being made to look good in JCS is a matter for debate, it is certainly true that his betrayal of Jesus makes him a central character. His assertion that Jesus is losing his focus and becoming drunk with power is his given reason for turning Jesus in. But is he being honest with us? or even with himself?

3. What's the Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying (4:13)

Throughout JCS, Jesus comes off as being pretty cranky. Well, how would you feel if your dad wanted you to die for the world's sins?

Here, for example, Jesus scolds the disciples for asking impatiently, repeatedly, "What's the buzz? Tell me what's happening." When Mary Magdalene comforts Jesus, Judas criticizes Jesus for hanging out with such women (JCS seems to subscribe to the idea, which recently has been falling out of favor with biblical scholars, that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute), because to do so seems inconsistent with Jesus' religous message. Jesus takes it as criticism of Mary herself, and really flies off the handle:

 

Who are you to criticize her?...If your slate is clean, then you can throw stones

 

This exchange comes off as a missed connection between Judas and Jesus. Judas was really criticizing Jesus, not Mary. One might have expected Jesus to respond that his message was one of forgiveness, not exclusion, of those who have done wrong.

4. Everything's Alright (5:14)

Mary tries to calm Jesus with a myrrh ointment, but then Judas, seeming eager to play holier-than-thou, pipes up again:

 

Woman your fine ointment, brand new and expensive

Could have been saved for the poor

Why has it be wasted? We could have raised maybe

Three hundred silver pieces or more

People who are hungry, people who are starving,

Matter more than your feet and hair.

 

Jesus angrily responds:

 

Surely you're not saying we have the resources

To save the poor from their lot?

There will be poor always, pathetically struggling

Look at the good things you've got!

Think! while you still have me

Move! while you still see me

You'll be lost and you'll be so sorry when I'm gone

 

How is this different from the Bible version of this exchange? John Chapter 12 (New International Version) reads:

 

3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,

5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages."

6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.

8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."

 

The most striking difference here is that John inserts commentary about Judas' alleged motives, that he really wanted the money not to be spent so he could steal it. Presumably, John's Jesus knows this and thus responds as he does.

Webber & Rice's Jesus, however, shows no suspicion that Judas is stealing from the treasury. His reaction in the opera comes off as much more self-important, and to the slightest extent touches on the theme, which crops up repeatedly later, of "How will I be remembered when I'm gone?"

 

5. This Jesus Must Die (3:33)

Caiaphas, Annas, and other priests discuss what to do about Jesus' threat to their authority. Meanwhile, down in the street, Jesus is entering Jerusalem, and the crowd greets him with palm branches.

While this is a fun piece, and serves to advance the story, it doesn't really touch on any larger theme.

 

6. Hosanna (2:08)

The action moves outside to the street. As the crowd cheers Jesus, Caiaphas tells Jesus to keep the racket down, they're trying to plot his demise:

 

Tell the rabble to be quiet we anticipate a riot

This common crowd is much too loud

Tell the mob who sing your song that they are fools and they are wrong

They are a curse, they should disperse

Jesus' response is quite Biblical:

Why waste your breath moaning at the crowd?

Nothing can be done to stop the shouting

If every tongue was still the noise would still continue

The rocks and stones themselves would start to sing

 

7. Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem (4:47)

I haven't succeeded in finding an basis in the Bible for this section, or a character called Simon Zealotes, but essentially this amounts to an articulation of the position that Jesus should come as a traditional king who should foment a rebellion against the Roman occupiers:

There must be over fifty thousand

Screaming love and more for you

Every one of fifty thousand

Would do whatever you ask him to

Keep them yelling their devotion

But add a touch of hate at Rome

You will rise to a greater power

We will win ourselves a home

Jesus response is, essentially, "you just don't get it." Indeed, it becomes increasingly clear throughout the opera that absolutely no one "gets" Jesus or his belief that God is controlling events. This is certainly consistent with the Bible. In JCS, it fits with the theme that, while Judas says later on "You should have had it planned," everything that's happening is, in fact, the plan!

Jesus concludes:

While you live your troubles are many, poor Jersusalem

To conquer death you only have to die

8. Pilate's Dream (1:26)

Why is this sung to the same tune as "Poor Jerusalem"? Apparently we're meant to see some comparison or contrast between Jesus and Pilate.

Pilate dreams of the events to come: meeting Jesus, who refuses to answer his questions; Jesus being killed by a group of "wild and angry men"; and Pilate getting the blame. (Scholars believe Pilate deserved the blame, but let's not muddy the waters with historical facts!) Pilate, in keeping with a major theme of JCS, is concerned about his image in future generations. The dream seems to be a signal to him to beware how he handles the situation; he doesn't want to be blamed for Jesus' death.

 

9. The Temple (4:40)

The moneylenders and merchants are using the temple for commercial purposes, calling out to customers to come try out their wares. Interestingly, Webber puts this to a haunting, minor-key melody, giving it a rather sinister feel.

Jesus chases them out of the temple, then shows his "Messiah fatigue":

My temple should be a house of prayer

But you have made it a den of thieves

Get out, get out

My time is almost through

Little left to do

After all I've tried for three years, seems like thirty

A crowd then approaches him, asking him to heal their maladies; Jesus, sounding really fed up, cries "Heal yourselves!"

 

10. Everything's Alright (:30)

11. I Don't Know How to Love Him (4:07)

One of the most famous tunes from JCS. Mary Magdalene, the (alleged) prostitute, wonders how, with all the experience she's had with men, she can still be so nervous around Jesus.

You could argue that including this piece was just an excuse to have a love ballad, that Mary's attraction to Jesus has no bearing on the rest of the story. But after looking at the latter part of the opera, where the meat really is, I realized that there is an important aspect to "I Don't Know How to Love Him" that's consistent with JCS's themes.

Mary sings:

He's a man, he's just a man

And I've had so many men before

In very many ways

He's just one more

This indicates that she, just like everyone else, believes Jesus to be just a traveling preacher. It's not clear whether she's aware of Jesus' talk of God's plan for him, but if she is, she doesn't take it seriously. Most Christians would dispute her assuption that he's "just" a man!

 

12. Damned for All Time/ Blood Money (5:07)

Judas meets with Caiaphas and Annas to set up his betrayal of Jesus, making every excuse he can think of to make his motives look pure:

I came because I had to I'm the one who saw

Jesus can't control it like he did before

And furthermore I know that Jesus thinks so, too

Jesus wouldn't mind that I was here with you.

Based on his rationale here, and what he says in "Heaven on their Minds" and elsewhere in JCS, it appears that Judas doesn't even believe in God, which sort of makes you wonder why he became a disciple. His main concern -- as with Pilate and others -- is how he'll be remembered by future generations:"Don't say I'm damned for all time." Later, in "Judas' Death," Caiaphas tells him, "You'll be remembered forever for this" -- a nice ironic line, since Judas certainly was remembered, but in a negative rather than a positive light!

What does JCS mean to say about Judas? It seems that we're supposed to believe the reasons he gives for betraying Jesus, since what he says to Annas and Caiaphas is consistant with what he's said about Jesus up to this point: He thinks Jesus has strayed from his original path, he's letting things go out of control. But is that a reason to turn him in to the authorities? Yes, if it will spare his own neck. He most likely figures that if no one turns Jesus in, the authorities could eventually come and arrest Jesus and all the disciples. Still, it seems as if JCS is telling us that Judas believed he was doing the right thing, and that the authorities would go easy on Jesus once they'd arrested him.

(By the way, the "Damned for All Time" music sounds an awful lot like the theme of a certain campy TV show that went out of production right about the time JCS came out. Holy plagiarism, Batman...)

Free Message Forum from Bravenet Free Message Forums from Bravenet

DISC TWO ->

Global Sounds home

Copyright 2003 timyoungonline.com This page last updated December 27, 2003 . E-mail Tim