Superstar

Several years ago I started a Holy Week tradition of listening to the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar in the days leading up to Easter.  The two are a perfect fit, because the opera (one of the earlier works by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice) is loosely based on the Gospel accounts of the last week of Jesus' life. 

There are three versions--I have the rock opera one from 1970 (as opposed to the Broadway cast recording from 1971 or the movie soundtrack from 1973.)   When the album first came out my religiously traditional mother thought it was sacrilegious and banned it from the house. In her mind Biblical stories should not be set to rock music!  That just meant that instead of playing it at home I listened at my friends' houses. 

It wasn't until years later, though, when I got a copy on CD that I really began to appreciate the complex themes, lyrics, and music of the disc.  Now, driving around in the car I can crank up the volume and feel like I'm in my own personal concert hall.

The only problem with listening to the infectious songs, though, is getting them stuck in my head. At different times during the week walked around singing different snippets.  First it was "Hosanna" (Hosanna, Heysanna, Sanna Sanna Ho).  Next was "King Herod's Song" (So you are the Christ/You're the great Jesus Christ/Prove to me that you're divine/Change my water into wine.) and the latest has been "This Jesus Must Die" (What then to do about this Jesus-mania?/Now how to we deal with a carpenter king?/Where do we start with a man who is bigger/Than John was when John did his baptism thing?)

I could probably have worse things stuck in my head, though.

Five years ago today: It's Still Rock and Roll to Me