Clef Notes

Rock operas were once big in my world — when I was thirteen, I even had a music teacher who decided that Tommy was of such intrinsic value that we must all listen to the album while he (our teacher) stood in front of us, offering occasional verbal clarification (there was some confusing and creepy stuff) and a LOT of air guitar. Tommy was okay — kinda cool — but at home we had Jesus Christ Superstar and I loved that!

Last weekend, my friend and I found our karaoke version of Jesus Christ Superstar, and we really knew our stuff — both melody and lyrics! It was a deep dive into our early adolescence, huddled over the super-fancy double-LP album cover with the liner notes, imagining ourselves in the role of Mary Magdalene “soothing and anointing,” singing beautifully and soulfully at the same time [sigh]…. okay, okay… we got the sappy stuff out of our system with “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” and then moved on to the character that we now both LOVE and would want to play — Judas! It doesn’t matter that nobody would cast either of us as Judas: he is such an exciting character with an interesting emotional journey and fabulous lyrics in many songs including, “Heaven on their Minds,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and “Judas’ Death.”

I’ve provided links below to songs from Jesus Christ Superstar featuring Mary Magdalene and Judas so that anyone with an urge to take a trip down my memory lane can do so easily.