I have this memory, from a few years ago, of sitting around in a friend’s apartment and listening to random music and eating great food. (Said friend was Danish, you see, and dang but do Scandinavians know how to cook.) At some point the soundtrack for Jesus Christ Superstar came on. Specifically, ‘Everything’s Alright’, the scene where Mary Magdalene goes to bathe Jesus’ feet and was his hair with her expensive oils. The song is quite moving, I suppose, but I suddenly realised I loathed it.
In the song, Judas Iscariot rises and condemns Magdalene and Jesus for using the ‘fine ointment / brand new and expensive’ instead. Instead he advocates selling the stuff and using the ‘three hundred… or more’ pieces of silver they could have acquired to assistant the poor and starving in Roman-occupied Judea. Jesus’ condescending response is that there will always be poor folk, ‘pathetically struggling’ and that it’s better to appreciate the ‘fine things’ that one already has. Meanwhile in the background, Magdalene and the chorus (the wives of the apostles) chant:
APOSTLES’ WIVES
Everything’s alright, yes, everything’s alright, yes.
MARY MAGDALENE
Close your eyes, close your eyes, and relax
What a hideous piece of music. Of course Jesus advocates that one should appreciate what one has. He is the one getting his feet massaged with oils! He is the leader of the motley crew, with all the power and authority. And, of course, he is the all-powerful Son of God, one third of the Trinity, with the power to overturn all the earth and make it into a paradise. His sneering contempt for the helpless poverty of the people he was sent to save sends paroxysms of anger and hatred down my spine.
Helpless only because he refuses to help them! There will always be poor of the world because the Almighty refuses to do anything to stop it. When one of his closest companions offers to help relieve some of the poor of their cruel lot, he refuses- why help anyone at all, when there are others? Why indeed, especially when one can spent such exorbitant wealth on oneself. Gah.
This is without even addressing the myopic bleating of the chorus lines. Close your eyes and relax! Pay no heed to those who are desperately trying to wake you up from your heartless selfishness. Everything’s all right. Just relax.
It perfectly encapsulates my issues with religious thinking.
Of course, Superstar isn’t exactly an accurate depiction of the New Testament. Yet even a straightforward reading of the texts of Jesus reveals him to be anything other than a powerful figure for social change. Rather than advocating the freedom of his people from Roman rule, he said to render unto Caesar what was his. Rather than compelling his followers to improve their lives and those of their neighbours in the here and now, he declared that he was a sword to set brother against brother.
What a lovely chap. I much prefer Judas.
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27/03/2011 at 06:15
Brian J.
Well, of course – and I don’t mean to imply you don’t know this – the early Christians were essentially eschatological in their thinking. When you believe the end of the world is right around the corner, social reform isn’t going to be high on the agenda.
29/03/2011 at 16:25
B
That is, in fact, precisely my point. Not that I said it, mind.
27/03/2011 at 07:35
Babs
I agree entirely with what you’re saying about the ‘message’ of the song- but why must you loathe the music as a result? Why not love it for what it’s exposing?
I think it’s a great piece, and a nice bit of storytelling that starts to inject some of the drama/conflict into the show– it helps us see WHY Judas ends up doing what he does, after all; and, okay okay I admit it, I’m an absolute sucker for anything written in an irregular beat.
29/03/2011 at 16:26
B
Loathing the song was just a strong way of stating that I was loathing what it was exposing. I honestly don’t think the song was intended to be exposing that, though. Most of the people I know who hear it think it’s a lovely song about not worrying about things, or about how Judas will miss Jesus when the latter is all executionified.
I have issues with that- the song exposes a horrible flaw in Christianity and people think it’s a good thing. Blech.
That said, irregular beats? YES.
27/03/2011 at 12:56
Nelson
Spot on about this little scene as it appears in the bible- but I think you might be a little hard on the song in the musical. It’s been a while since I’ve seen JCSS, but I seem to remember in the first half or so Jesus gets portrayed as fairly ‘flawed’- he’s obsessed with his name and fame, about whether anyone there actually cares about him, and really way too self-centred about how he Knows and everyone around is a fool and all that. I thought this song was part of that theme, reinforcing his self-obsession.
There’s the bit with all the lepers (I don’t remember if it happens before or after this song) which I think has the same point: Jesus vaguely wants to help others, but is a bit overwhelmed and too focused on himself to really do it right. In the ‘Alright’ song, I think Judas is really supposed to Have A Point, though it’s also trying to evoke sympathy for him as ‘just a man’.
‘Course, the musical’s answer to this is to have Jesus surrender to God, and endure whatever ‘cups of poison’ and ‘foul bloody crime[s]‘ God feels like dishing out that day- and it’s all OK because God’s God. The idea, in the story, would be that Jesus does have the ‘resources’ to help all the poor, but that means getting crucified.
The song in and of itself isn’t especially toxic the way I see it. It’s just about a woman trying help her lover, and man who’s still too self-centred to really do what he needs to to help people. Then again, maybe I’m just twisting a song I like to make it more satisfying.
29/03/2011 at 16:28
B
Hrm. I certainly hadn’t considered things this way. I suspect I still disagree with you, but this is why I like bloggin’. Gives people who disagree with me a spot to say so.