#TO BE CLEAR THESE LYRICS AND VIBES ARE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF VILLAINS

[anonymous-witness777]

I am the apple that ate Eve / the last to evolve, and the first to believe. / salvation waits above and damnation underneath / and everything in the middle, well, it must belong to me

[carverl]

If I'm being 100% honest with myself, this opening is perhaps the greatest achievement of the I Expect You To Die franchise in my opinion. I am constantly blown away by how incredible the whole thing is; the song itself by Puddles Pity Party is one of my favourite songs of all time, I listen to it constantly whether I'm at college, out on a walk or just shopping I've got this thing on repeat.

The way it's from the perspective of John Juniper, the main villain of the second game, who you'll be facing off against gives it this feeling of having a personal beef with Juniper before you've even met him. Like a rivalry is born between you, the player, and the villain right away just by how vindicate and snide the lyrics are and how they're directed at you. The first opening had a similar type beat with an unseen antagonist berating you, but in that case it was (and still kind of is) a little vague as to who was actually singing. In this case it's undeniable who you're meant to defeat and just how effortlessly it sets up the central gimmick of Juniper and his sadistic narcissism it's just so good.

It's especially interesting how Juniper seems to want Pheonix to act as their co-star in a way, talking about their battle of wits like it's a production they're playing their respective roles in; that being the hero and the villain. (Curious how Juniper seems to view himself as a villain, at least he's semi self aware, I guess) It acts in contrast to the first game's song in which it's clear the singer thinks nothing of you, here Juniper really seems to want to share the spotlight with Pheonix.

The visuals are incredibly memorable, where the first game used red, black, and white as its three colour atheistic this game uses green, gold, and black and I love how both tell you something about the villains; red used in the context of Zoraxis is a violent and sinister colour with connotations of blood whereas green and gold bring to mind wealth and privilege. Green also has a sickly connotation, like while Juniper is incredibly well off, he's also unwell and has a toxic relationship to his own status and sense of ego.

I also love the use of classic symbols associated with film and the theatre all throughout this opening, it almost feels like each of these title sequences step into the mind of the villain and you get to see their perspective of you and of the world. For Juniper, that's a world of adoring fans who are blind to his true intentions, all except for you. It almost feels like a classic "We're not so different) kind of thing except a bit more subtle. My favourite visual in the whole thing has to be the nukes flying towards Earth that's just so unbelievably cool.

I just absolutely adore this opening, and while I think the opening to Cog in the Machine has improved visuals, this game has a banger of a song that will go down as one of the all time greats in spy media. It's amazing how they took arguably the best part of the first game and made it 100× better in every way. It evokes images of classic spy films like Goldfinger and the whole vibe is impeccable.

10/10 absolute classic

[joules-per-second]

When I'm on long stretches of highway, I like to put on my proverbial Hyperanalyzing Fangirl hat for the sake of celebrating media I love. Here's my deep dive into a couple of my favorite songs, both written by dear friends (and recipients of the Quad-Beard), the Ol' Joey Scrums:

"Pipe Dream" has a fascinating interplay going on between the instrumentals and the lyrics. The words to this song are incredibly jaded - there's a touch of optimism towards the end of the chorus, but even that is tempered by the "maybe" of "maybe someday we'll be the show you'd like to see". But even as the verses are self-deprecating to the max, and the chorus just barely brings itself out of a well of pessimism long enough for a couple of "maybe"s and an "I think" that things will get better, the instrumentals are playing another story. Every instrument is unabashedly optimistic, and it makes you really believe in that grain of hope offered by the lyrics of the chorus. For a song that contains the lyric "weathered from the rain, the pain, the cocaine, and the tears", it's one of the most concentrated joy-inducing songs I know.

"Self-Destructing Man" provides quite a case of emotional whiplash from "Pipe Dream", as it paints a clear image of a very depressing carnival attraction: "Step on up, just a five dollar ticket; Stand in wonder at the self-destructing man exhibit". The most intriguing aspect of this song to me is the narrator, a carnival barker of sorts. Throughout the chorus, the perspective seems to shift until the barker turns into/is revealed to be the titular Self-Destructing Man himself, calling "Why me?". That in itself is quite interesting, but a fascinating thing happened when I sang it on my own one day - I realized the entire mood of the song changes when it is covered by a woman. And unlike the changes that occur from feminine covers of songs like "Only the Good Die Young" or "December 1963", it was NOT to give the song sapphic vibes. Instead, when I sang it, the image of the song was no longer a man feeling like he's onstage in all his woe and insecurity, and using the imagery of a carnival barker to express this - instead, it became a scene of an actual carnival barker who is absolutely reveling in the despair before her, mocking the man with the final "Why me?" of the chorus. Removing the implied "self" from the self-deprecation of the song transforms it into quite a villainous piece! I love seeing how the same song can change so much from how different artists cover it.

Anyway, thanks for reading. :) I simply had too many thoughts going on to not share them, especially when sharing them could lead just a couple more people to find some music they might really enjoy!

[cr0ss0veronlymusic]

Minenwerfer feat Mavorim - Kaiserjägerlied

(TLDR: this song and the band might at first glance give off some kind of nazi vibes, but that’s anachronistic, their songs are about ww1. also, except Mavorim, those musicians are not even german. as long as songs don’t spread hatred (against others or yourself) or are too nationalistic, I’ll post them on this blog. this blog tries to feature (mostly) any genre, from any country and is for everyone except nazis, fascists and Antideutsche)

since I listened to Agalloch the other day I get some recommendations for black metal songs on youtube. I don’t like black metal that much, but as I’m always a sucker for melodic parts in metal, I do kinda like atmospheric black metal. 

musically speaking I really like what Minenwerfer is doing on their album “Alpenpässe”, but the band name (german for “minethrower”) and the war themes gave me some bad vibes, so I looked them up. Minenwerfer is an american band, all the band members have kinda stupid sounding stage names (everyone chose some sort of german military rank and combined it with an edgy german word) and they make music about World War I. The album “Alpenpässe” is about the alpine war fought between Austria and Italy from 1915-18. 

because of their songs telling war stories from a german perspective the band has been accused of belonging to the NSBM genre, their imagery doesn’t really help against that claim, but I think that’s an anachronism, the band sings about ww1.

I personally think that world war 1 has to be dealt with in a different manner than the way ww2 is dealt with. ww1 and all the suffering and terror can be a very fitting topic for a black metal band and you can tell stories from all the parties involved. In contrast to ww2 the “villains” aren’t that clear cut and nationalism was rampant not only in Germany at that time. so that’s that.

I also looked up Mavorim, who sings the german lyrics, and I get similar vibes regarding song titles, but he also seems to make decent black metal. what’s negative about him is, that he apparently appeared on stage alongside other questionable bands. 

To close this, I’d like to say this: first of all, I like to distinguish between artists’ and their art. If I find an artist to be an asshole, I don’t want to support them, but I might continue to enjoy their art anyway (in a non-paying way).

secondly, art can be about anything for me, as long as it doesn’t promote any kind of hatred towards others or yourself. I also have a problem when the matter gets too nationalistic. in a german context that means, I can listen to a ww1 marine song about going to war, because the Brits laughed about our flag (this kind of nationalism is so fucking pathetic and thus ridiculous), but I won’t listen to music spreading hatred against foreigners and stuff like that. on the other side of the spectrum I listen to songs about fighting the establishment, but won’t listen to self-hating Antideutsche (sorry but being born german isn’t my fault and I’m not inherently evil).

you might occasionally find songs on this blog, which you might see as too politically left or right for your own taste, but that doesn’t say anything about my political views. 

nazis, fascists and Antideutsche can fuck off, you’re not welcome here.

[pastpassages]

This isn’t particularly a “me and natsuki” song so much as a “this seems to capture some of the way I experience love and also the world” song but. I wanted to put it here and some thinky thoughts bc it’s late and I feel like pontificating I guess. Properties/fandoms/people I mention but do not want to draw the attention of have been censored, if you can’t figure out what they are and really want to know feel free to message me.  

Cw: exploration of like. The inevitability of death, and change, and facing the vast universe. Tl;dr this song is macabre and its speaker knows that wishing for things to stay as they are is in vain, but does it anyway. That fuckin gets me bro.

Ideally the read more will work. I apologize if it doesn’t. I’m on mobile and not sure that tumblr will let me edit posts on desktop that I started on mobile. I literally copy and pasted this freaking post onto desktop so it would have a read more bc no one fucking deserves to scroll through my late night mile long thoroughly existential ramblings. At least I’m posting this fuck off late at night so hopefully it won’t bother anyone

The simple instrumentation, first off. It’s p much the same…one? Two? Maybe three measures? Repeated throughout the song, but I think it works very well with the themes and meaning and doesn’t annoy me like other acoustic-style music with so much repetition (*cough* M*mf*rd and S*ns *cough*). This is partially I think bc there’s changes in the notes etc between different parts of the song; the measure of silence between the intro and the first main stanza of the song, the change in. I think it’s key? Over the course of repeating the chorus. (It’s been so long since I’ve done music, stanza isn’t the right word and key probably isn’t either hELP)

But the main thing that seems to get me: the lyrics.

“How lucky / I ever was to see / The way that / You smiled at me / Your little moon face / Shining bright at me / One day soon, there’ll be nothing left of you and me / Two coffins for sleep” (I may have put too many line breaks in there lol but that’s how it Feels so I’m keeping it)

There’s this constant awareness of the inevitability of loss (specifically death in this case), and how. Mm, how to put it. The randomness of the universe can so often work against us, and being aware of that makes you incredibly thankful for the times when things do go in your favor. Very similar vibes to TWRP’s Life Party, though definitely more macabre in tone.

Going back to the first stanza in the song:

“Two coffins for sleep / One for you, one for me / We’ll get there eventually / In the dark of our graves, our bodies will decay / I wish you’d never change”

Something I find interesting about this portion is that, despite ending with “I wish you’d never change,” acknowledging that this change, death, is inevitable, there’s still this. Hope? I guess might be the right word? Or maybe faith. That the speaker and the person addressed in the song will be together in death. They will be in separate coffins, but “we’ll” get there; “in the dark of our graves, our bodies will decay. Plural. They may be separated physically but they are undergoing the same process, and perhaps there is some measure of togetherness in that. It may just be economical phrasing to fit the rhythm of the song, but it still implies a togetherness to me. It could have been phrased "I’ll get there and you’ll get there,” “in the dark of the graves, our bodies,” or similar. Again, that probably wouldn’t work with the rhythm and there is probably not an inherent meaning to it, but still! I was an English major, reading more into things that aren’t necessarily there is like My Job lol.

Anyway, before I got sidetracked by that thought I was going to say that the main point of this portion of the song is this sort of impossible wish for the speaker and the person addressed to not be separated. Yes, this is inevitable, yes, there is no fighting it, but…wouldn’t it be nice? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a small kindness from the universe like that, to not be separated in the end. It won’t happen, but let’s take a moment to imagine it anyway.

Another side note, this is kind of a similar thought process to why I like the way st*vens *niverses handles its villains. Yes, talking and emotional connection with those you’re in conflict with doesn’t always work. But isn’t it nice to imagine a world where it does? And if we do imagine that, maybe we can find a few ways to be more compassionate in our world, to extend grace and kindness where we might not have thought to otherwise. And perhaps that will make the world just a tiny bit better.

Anyway. Moving forward:

“All the things that I have yet to lose will someday be gone too / Back into annihilation / All things will fade, maybe it’s better off that way / I wish you’d stay with me”

First off, the phrasing “back into annihilation.” We come from nothingness, we will return to nothingness. This is not a religious song. There is not an afterlife waiting for us, nothing that created us. There is the life we have, here and now, and then it’s gone.

Otherwise, this stanza continues the overall theme: we inevitably march on towards death, and separation. We will lose all that we have. Perhaps that is good, ultimately; would it truly make you happy in the long run to never experience pain or loss? This is a sentiment that I’m sure has been expressed many times by many people, but that I remember first hearing from st*r tr*k, though I cannot currently find a clip of the moment I’m thinking of. Not that human life is inherently bad or painful, but that pain is a necessary part of life to balance the good. If there was not pain of some kind in your life, you would not appreciate your happiness so much. Obviously, this line of thinking only goes so far; it is not, for example, a good thing that marginalized people tend to experience outsized pain in comparison with the nice things they receive from society. Happiness for marginalized people is more often forged and seized, stolen from life rather than given freely by it. No, poverty does not “make you appreciate the virtues of life” more, it makes you hungry and tired and frustrated, can you please just take some action against it. Conversely, j*ff b*z*s could probably use a bit more pain in his life! ….I got sidetracked again. Wish tumblr had a footnotes feature. Anyway. The speaker acknowledges the inevitability of death/loss, but once again expresses that vain wish to not lose the person addressed in the song, to keep what they have in this moment. Once again, this will never happen. Let’s imagine it anyway. Perhaps it will be a comfort, despite its improbability.

After this, the chorus is repeated, eventually shifting into a repetition of the phrase “Two coffins for sleep,” finishing the song. To return to the instrumentation, the guitar and drums follow a consistent, simple rhythm, mimicking that of walking. Constantly moving forward, even when we don’t want to. We will die, eventually, “one day soon,” far off and yet much closer than we hope or want. Change is inevitable. Death is inevitable.

And yet. That small, vain hope remains. “I wish you’d stay with me.” “I wish you’d never change.” Maybe, in a kinder world, we could keep this moment as more than a memory. “How lucky / I ever was to see / The way that / You smiled at me.” In all the cold randomness of the universe, against all improbability, we did meet. We brought each other joy. “Your little moon face / Shining bright at me.” We reflect the good, the kindness in each other. “One day soon, there’ll be nothing left of you and me.” And yet. And yet. “Two coffins for sleep / Two coffins for sleep.” Separated, and yet together, even if it’s just an illusion.

To explain why this means so much to me….I’m not sure I can do it succinctly lol. But hey, this post is a mile long already, so why not. No one’s obligated to read this lol.

When I was younger I was more religious. (This is not a “religion/spirituality is a childish thing and I have put that behind me” point, don’t worry.) When I was a teenager I was an atheist for like. Edgy points, idk. I was starting to see some of the worse parts of the world, starting to wonder what gods who truly cared about the world would let it get so horrid for so many. I’m still fairly young (mid-20s is not old, I must keep reminding myself), but now my view is…somewhere in the middle of those two points. Or maybe it’s more that I took a left turn?

The point is, now I kind of don’t care whether there is a god/are gods, whatever. You know how when you’re a kid (barring abusive circumstances that break this illusion much earlier etc) you believe that your parents know everything? They can fix anything, they’re your parents! They’re your whole world! And then you get older, and you realize that no. They don’t know everything. They were your whole world, perhaps, but there’s literally billions more people in the world. People that you can connect to, learn from, build things together with. The world is so much more than you and your parents. That’s the stage I’m at with my belief in a higher power. Sure, they might be out there. But they’re just one being, how could they possibly understand and control everything in this fuck off complicated world of ours? Or, if you’re going the polytheistic route, they’re just as complicated as the rest of the world. Chances are, appeasing one would anger another. One step forward, two steps back. (I should make it explicit if it wasn’t already clear, I come from a Xtian background. I default to thinking of god in the singular. Not sure how well this point holds up from a polytheistic perspective tbh!)

Anyway. It does not matter whether there is a higher power. There is more to the world than that. We are here. We have each other.

There’s a moment in night in the woods that hit me like a truck. Angus says, “so I believe in a universe that doesn’t care, and people who do.” I have essentially taken four times as many words to express that same sentiment! But like. That’s it. It doesn’t matter whether there’s a higher power. If they can fix the world, they haven’t, and if they can’t, then they can’t. We can, piece by piece. Moment by moment.

The thing about this. Is that humans. Are not, by nature, necessarily good. “People are fundamentally people,” as TPratchett and NGaiman put it. The world is infinitely complicated, and on top of that we as individual humans are infinitely complex. We do not, by default, seek out and work towards the good of others. (We do not inherently seek out hurting others either! Get that original sin shit out of here!) But like. If there isn’t a higher power that’s going to just fix our shit for us? If we’re all we’ve got?

And thus. Finally. The reason this song speaks to me. Oh my lord is it existentially horrifying to think that it comes down to silly, insignificant, flawed humans to change the world. You have to find something to give you joy. Or at least a moment of less pain. The world is so vast, and we can do so little.

But we have each other. In this vast, empty universe, I have you, and you have me. And perhaps, to soothe our fears and make things just a little easier on ourselves, we can pretend that the world will be kind. Wouldn’t it be nice? If things were kinder. Let’s take a moment to imagine it. There, that’s a nice thought, isn’t it? The world will not be kind. But for a moment, we can pretend it will.

Perhaps, if we are very lucky, we can even take a small step towards that kinder world.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

[snazzyo]

The Incarnation of Jesus Christ Superstar

A Rock Opera that deftly handles a complex theological Mystery.

Warning:  Commentary on NBC’s live broadcast, NOT Supernatural related and contains religious discussion. If this is not your thing, please don’t engage. Just move along.

I saw Jesus Christ Superstar, the movie, back in 1973 when I was 11.  Loved the music.  It was clearly “hip and cool”.  The music stuck with me for a long time but not necessarily the particulars of the story. I remember strong performances. That’s it.  But I was DELIGHTED it was going live on Easter Sunday and I decided to watch.  I ended up re-watching it FOUR times.  I was that moved.  And here’s why: In the intervening years since 1973 I’ve grown up quite a bit and made a great deal more progress on my faith journey.  And the specific production on Easter Sunday did an amazing job of portraying one of the most complex mysteries of Jesus – his Incarnation (becoming flesh).  The duality of Jesus being both truly human and truly divine. This understanding came, I believe, not just from my aging but potentially from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s involvement after so many years in yet another production of the musical he penned with Tim Rice when he was only 22.  It would appear the author has also gotten a deeper understanding over the years. Interested?  Read more beyond the break.  Not interested or bothered by a talk of religion… move along, these are not the droids your looking for.

Authorial Intent:  Understanding what the author intended is always difficult, but I’ve been able to intuit quite a bit after reading up on the backstory.  It doesn’t mean I’m unambiguously “right” in my interpretation but I think I have a good basis for my understanding.  First, this musical written when both Webber and Rice were much younger.  Both had Church of England upbringings, neither was particularly religious at the time. Rice said he liked to focus of “real events” and that’s why he picked the story of Jesus’ last days as well as writing “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”.  Their focus for Jesus Christ Superstar was the story of Jesus’s last days from the point of view of Judas. When the musical came out, it bombed in Britain as too sacrilegious.  It was better received in the US on Broadway but neither of the authors were happy with the production.  It made a ton of money but they felt it missed the mark. Over the years, the potentially subversive concepts people assumed were being portrayed (Jesus was more man than divine, what was his relationship with Mary Magdalene, etc.…) got seen in a more sophisticated light and even the Vatican (in 1999) praised the musical. Now enter the 2018 version and Andrew Lloyd Webber was involved again (and MUCH more powerful).  Comparing the 1973 movie versus this production, if the slight production changes were attributable to (or at least approved by) the author, then this is likely closer to their original intent.  And when viewed critically, I think it’s clear that what Webber and Rice wanted was to depict a better understanding of the nature of Jesus.

Character Analysis:  This musical is first and foremost a character study during a crucial moment in history.  Judas, Mary Magdalene, and Jesus are the central characters with Pilot, Herod, and Caiaphas second tier.  I’ll look at each and discuss their point of view.

Judas – The primary narrator, even after his death.  Judas sees Jesus as a man at the start of the show. He loves Jesus but thinks that the message is getting lost as the people’s adulation starts to grow.  He’s worried that they think Jesus is raising hopes too far and people will turn on him.  Judas is critical of praise to Jesus versus praise to their good works. His snide remarks regarding Mary Magdalene show he is turning bitter. When he approaches the Pharisees, he’s looking to curb Jesus so as to protect the message.  But the crucial scene, where he takes the money – it is obvious Judas knows he is doing wrong and does it anyway.  Later he blames others for his betrayal. First Jesus, then the Pharisees, and possibly God.  Judas feels like he was forced to play a part and after committing suicide, he comes back (presumably from the vantage point of hell) and still is conflicted about who Jesus is.  In the titular song, he seems to understand Jesus was more than a man but he’s tormented by Jesus’ nature.  His final song is also done out of time and space; referring to modern communication and looking back at Jesus understanding the massive change that came from his death and resurrection.

Jesus – The primary motivating force of the show is clearly struggling as he approaches his final days.  He sees it all laid out before him and he can’t turn away. Unlike other productions, Sunday’s broadcast makes Jesus’ divinity obvious with the bright light appearing as he enters and an obvious reference to his resurrection at the end.  But at the same time we see a heart-rending story play out as Jesus just wants to both inspire and yet is incredibly tired.  The lyrics of the songs sung by the chorus often mix praise with doom (“Hey JC, JC will you die for me?”). Unlike many portrayals of Jesus, we see his human nature clearly. He’s angry, he’s afraid, he’s joyful, he’s sad.  His point of view is ultimately of a divine individual choosing to suffer as a human for the sake of a people who really don’t get who he is.  And he needs them to go beyond their physical needs and have faith.  He needs them to see beyond themselves.  Ultimately his death is what propels the characters who didn’t believe or had doubts. At his death they fully understand his divine and immortal nature.

Mary Magdalene – The loyal and loving supporter of Jesus is also confused about his nature.  She knows she loves him but it doesn’t make sense. It’s not at all like the men she’s loved in the past. She keeps trying to see him as a man but knows something about that is not ‘right’.  It’s not what their relationship is about.  Unable to control her confusion she simply does her best to be supportive and help others to stay calm during tense times.  There is no song that shows Mary finally understanding Jesus’ divine nature but the production and Sara Bareilles did an excellent job of making that realization evident as she watched his crucifixion. She is both sad and elevated.  Her character suffers the most from having origins in the 1970s.  Her songs could easily diminish her role to part love interest, part ‘earth mother’. Still, the production was fairly good about making it clear that her relationship to Jesus may have been seen in a poor light but her faith in him guaranteed a spot in heaven.  She was the sinner elevated by faith and she was exactly the kind of person Jesus came to save.  

Pilot – The cowardly villain, used by the Pharisees, and led by his fear.  The musical is clear that he knows he’s doing wrong but has no backbone to stand up against the crowd.  He tries to delude himself that he has no choice but it’s evident he can already tell he will be judged by what he has done. He engenders no sympathy. He treats Jesus like a man, but his gut tells him he’s making a mistake.

Herod – The hedonistic clown demanding proof. The campy nature of his appearance shows the point of view of someone overly concerned with worldly possession and transitory thrills.  When Jesus refuses to perform for his entertainment, he throws him out. He is his own god and sees the humble Jesus as a foolish man.  He’s blind to what is really happening even as he smugly considers himself worldly.

Caiaphas – The protector of the status quo. He arrogantly assumes Jesus is just a normal man who will bring down Roman punishment by starting a revolution.  He knows Jesus is a good man. He confidently plots Jesus’ death like a noble task, assuring himself this is all about the people and not about his own power.  He shows no remorse and like any keeper of the status quo, immediately generates antibodies to this “invader” to his sense of righteousness.  

In the end, the people (the chorus) are overcome as they see Jesus’ death. They start out mocking and soon fall to their knees as he dies. Recognizing that this was not an ordinary man. The show ends with Jesus’ resurrection but you can tell that witnessing his death prepared not just his followers but the people in general to change their existence.  They realize they’ve witnessed something they didn’t understand and it’s easy to forecast they will go back and reflect on everything Jesus said and did to try and explain what happened.

Regrets: As a character story, the musical is wonderful in showing how conflicting and confusing Jesus’ existence was and how profoundly he changed people.  The role of Peter and the rest of the Apostles is somewhat poorly treated in this story.  They seem more like children having a good time who run away when things get difficult. Their redemption story, the story of the early Church, is not even hinted at.  As mentioned earlier, it’s also easy to oversimplify Mary Magdalene’s role even if the performance elevated the material.  

Production: This was a marvel.  The live audience felt very involved in the whole experience. The use of musicians on stage amped up the excitement.  The grungy street-vibe of the scenery and performers worked well. Particularly impressive was Judas racing to the top with the dangling ladder used to show his fate.  But the crowning achievement was the death and resurrection scene.  With the use of a negative space cross surrounding the tortured being at the center. It was a perfect metaphor for Jesus’ nature of human and divine.

Performances:  John Legend was just the right mix of ethereal and relatable.  His face, his mannerisms, his vocals showed the wide range of Jesus’ experience.  Alice Cooper as Herod nearly stole the show from a pure entertainment perspective.  His campy performance contrasted well with the earnestness of the rest of the performances.  But ultimately it was Brandon Victor Dixon who brought out the tragedy and the triumph of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  His outsider’s point of view, so full of passion and bitterness, provided the perfect foil for Jesus’ character. Dixon’s Judas was barely concealed rage and agony.  His heartbreak at not truly understanding Jesus is what elevated the rest of us as we witnessed His Divine nature.  

Bottom Line: Jesus Christ Superstar can be dismissed as catchy 70’s tunes about a “hippy Jesus” but that’s missing so much of what it offers. This musical leverages the points of view of those witnessing Jesus’ final days to allow us to experience both the man and the God.  As Rice and Webber inherently understood, the best story is the true story. This musical examines that truth in an accessible way and leaves you wanting to understand more.