The message is a serious one. I am particularly interested by this
song otherwise I would not waste my time reflecting on its message.
This analysis is of the artists’ lyrics with the aid of the video. I’m
sure many of you must have heard about this song Judas
especially if you’re a Christian it would be of interest particularly
since the artist is indirectly sending you a message. The moral of the
song is nobody is perfect so you dont have to beat
yourself up (like Judas Iscariot, who killed himself) but only pick
yourself up and try again. Also the lyrics contains different voices
intended to give different perspectives (eg.the artist, Mary
Magdaline, Jesus, Judas- in that order ) but suitably for the artist
who is a female the main voice is Mary Magdaline who is a common theme
in most of her songs.
Many people of faith believe
that there can absolutely be no connection between Christians and
worldly people. Wrong! The Bible does say all have sinned and nobody is
totally secure in God. Everyone has some form of insecurities and being
truthful with yourself is the only way to solve the problem because
hiding it from the world does no good to you.
It’s
good if you pay attention to the lyrics because you can learn something
from it. I hope you are not the type of Christian who closes his mind
in an unreasonable manner from the world when the truth is you can
learn alot from secularism-without being corrupted. Anyway what I mean
to say is if the song has caught your ear that’s probably because it’s
designed to grab your attention.
But the message is clear. Let me begin.
I’ll
start by summarizing the lyrics since it’s the most important.
Basically the whole poem is metaphorical and its context is of a
spiritual nature. According to the video the message is told from the
perspective of Mary Magdaline who according to the Bible was a famous
prostitute who received grace when she met Jesus. Importantly it must
be known that spirituality is an individual experience (even in
worship) meaning its personal all the time therefore the artist is
singing from a christian perspective about her personal struggle of
faith and insecurities in a world filled with many paths.The artist is drawing similarities between herself and Judas
(Judas, Juda-a-a, Judas, Gaga). It’s obvious she is in a state of
self-doubt confusion as she cannot decide which path to follow even
though she is a christian. She doesn't understand who she is or what
shes about. She says she really loves God (Jesus is my virtue) and she
wants to serve him but she also struggles with worldly things. Worldly
people also try to do what is right with the light they have. The
problem is she only has one heart and so she feels guilty about denying
her faith (But Judas is the demon I cling to). In actuality the song
portrays a betrayal or rejection of her catholic faith and a deep cry
for help. That's my opinion
For you to understand the
song you have to know who Judas is/was. In short, Judas Iscariot was
one of the twelve followers of Jesus. You can say Judas was a
business-man who saw an opportunity for profit. He had a change in
heart when he was seduced by the devil (in the form of the priest and
Pharisees) and betrayed Jesus for money (the world). I think Judas was
insecure and overly selfish.In his mind he failed to meet the
expectations of Jesus because of his own self condemnation. Now however
you choose to interpret that is up to you.
But I see
the message of this song as Gaga confessing that she is backsliding in
her catholic faith even though she wants to be a good christian. She
must have fell in love with 'Judas' betraying Jesus at some point in
her faith. She says, (I’m still in love with Judas baby). She adds,
“I’m just a holy fool o baby it’s so cruel but..”, as if to say she is
trapped in a web of religious hypocrisy. It would help to do some
research of the artist’s upbringing you will discover Gaga was a victim
of institutionalized religion. As a catholic girl under a strict
discipline she felt confined in expression of her sexuality (as a
woman) denying herself many freedoms unjustly. Gaga even mentioned in
an interview that while growing up she felt terribly insecure mostly
because she was bullied at school.Hence she was forced to see God as
unforgiving and any sign of rebellion as disloyalty to God. Bear in
mind that she was under what some would consider a false religion with
many errors (read about the catholic church)and that she was only a
child when she entered the catholic church.
Sooner
than later Gaga recognizes she has a problem with her spirituality
and relationship with God. On the one hand she desires to do good and
following Jesus, and, on the other hand she is tempted to venture into
her dark side because of the pressures from the world. It was her lack of perfection in 'her eyes' that led her down a path of self condemnation. She says,"I’ll bring him down, a king with no crown".
Impatient, she leaves the church in her sincerity (not her faith in
Jesus) to appeal to her carnal side. If you read your Bible you would
know that Jesus is the king she is talking about. Jesus had no earthly
crown or materialistic wealth because he became like a servant- hence
the term the servant king. He was natural
and simple.Whereas we see Judas did the opposite and lifted himself up
when HE SOLD OUT! The Bible does say the love of money is the root of
all evil. The artist is indirectly saying that she sold out of her
faith for what she saw as more fulfilling. (doesn't this remind you of
the prodigal son?) (I could be wrong)
Judas, the disciple, was the man who brought Jesus down. But it was not a surprise to Jesus because he was suppose to die being the perfect one according to prophecy. We see a few oppositions here.
Jesus was perfect. Judas was not. However as I recall Judas was not the
only disciple to betray Jesus. Peter also betrayed Jesus by denying
him 3 times. What does that tell you? Compare that with the
prodigal boy who left and the one who stayed home. Still dont get it?
In the end which son was better? None of them!! They were both the same.
But
now it gets more serious. According to the lyrics she knows what she is
doing is WRONG but continually makes excuses for it. She states, "In
the most biblical sense I am beyond repentance...". As Christians we
know that you cannot go beyond repentance unless you commit the
unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin is blaspheming (speaking)
against the holy spirit. She continues, "Judas kiss me if of-fenced or
wear ear condom next time". According to that first line, in her mind
she thinks that because she keeps on making mistakes she cannot be
forgiven by God. She believes that her flaws and imperfections are
signs that she is condemned of 'God'. But God already knew that she
would make those mistakes, "In the cultural sense I just speak in
future tense..".
Remember that Jesus Christ
was flawless. He did absolutely no wrong. Hence in the eyes of Judas,
Jesus' perfection was a mockery because he could not attain the level
of perfection that Jesus was on!Come on, why do you think he became a
follower of Jesus? Pure admiration, because Jesus was what he wanted to
be like.
Remember that after
leaving her catholic faith even though she was exposed to other worldly
views she still had some knowledge of the truth. Also bear in mind that
a function of the holy spirit is to convict you of truth.If you are a
true christian you should know what I mean.
It is possible Gaga learned about the truth sometime time after she left her faith but still that was not enough for her. She was a christian yes but not in totality.
The
actual meaning of the song is that she is in love with money and
pleasures despite the rules of her strict faith. The problem for her
she keeps coming back to it (her faith)- she can’t escape it. She
claims to have found a way to make herself the only point of reference
between right and wrong by uniting her good side (catholic faith) and
bad side (selfish love of pleasure). She accepts her good and bad
experiences for her own benefit
. So, what does she do?
She
ABANDONS her faith realizing it cannot save her anymore and embraces
her new experience and walk being neither too good nor too bad.
ACCORDING TO THE ARTIST IT’S ALL ABOUT SELF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IN
SELF, SELF FORGIVENESS AND SELF AWARENESS OR SELF ACCEPTANCE OR BEING YOURSELF simply put.
OTHER THEMES INCLUDE FREEING YOURSELF FROM FEAR AND EMBRACING THE GOD
IN YOU and AFTER ACCEPTING YOURSELF YOU MUST ACCEPT OTHER PEOPLE TOO.
With her new found freedom from institutionalized religion she uses her
talent (music)to help other people with similar experiences like hers
But
if I can say a final point, sometimes in life when you try to do the
right thing evil presents itself in the form of people who criticize
your intentions for doing good (Jesus Knew all about this because he
was innocent).You can never be perfect in the eyes of society. And most
times when you do ‘bad’ things you get away with it (if you are not
caught). (Judas knew about that). All that means is nobody is perfect.
So why is their hypocrisy in religions?And if Jesus was crucified for
being perfect it shows that you dont have to hide your imperfections
from God. You can only become perfect when you really begin to
recognize that you are not . That means learning from your mistakes.
And if your not then others are not also.
See Judas
was a snake who appeared to be perfect to others but was really hiding
his true nature. The only person who wasn't deceived was Jesus (cause
somehow he could identify with Judas-"do what you have to do').So was
Cain who tried to hide his imperfection by offering God things that
looked good. So was the Prodigal son who stayed home under a pretense
of serving the father.
In the end verse, the 'something' that is pulling her away from loving Jesus are her insecurities. She doesn't know what they are or much about them (its something)
as most times our insecurities are hard to understand because they are
covered up so deep we react in a kind of desperate mindless manner. It
could be some past negative experience, some past pain or hurt.
Whatever the case, it is 'her demon' that takes control of her life as she is unaware of why she acts the way she does.
Isn't the first step to being saved acknowledging what you are?- A HOLY FOOL (A religious person who is not perfect YET)
Think about this- the beginning of security is learning to laugh at yourself, realizing that no one is perfect.
Mythical_Poet- draft 1
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