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The Stories Behind the Songs on Our 17th Single
Thu., Oct. 14. 2021 7:35pm EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Here are the stories behind the songs on our 17th single of 2021:
SECOND CORINTHIANS
I've always associated Corey Hart's "Never Surrender" with John Parr's "St. Elmo's Fire." Both came out in June 1985 and were anthems about overcoming challenges. And I remember rooting for both to hit #1. They were neck and neck at #3 and #4 on the August 24 chart. John Parr made it to #1 two weeks later, but Corey Hart surrendered at #3, though he did reach #1 in his native Canada.
ApX released a spoof of "St. Elmo's Fire" in May 2021 and "Never Surrender" in October 2021, but I actually suggested both as parody candidates to Rich back on March 10. I got the line "look in Second Corinthians" on August 5 and thought it had some potential. I finally asked Rich to start recording drums and keys on September 15.
But Second Corinthians is a good-sized book — where should my focus be? Then I got the opening line about chapter four (which rhymed with "asking for" in the original). Verses 4:16-17 are favorites of mine and were perfect for this parody. And dig this:
On October 1, I jotted down some potential lyrics for it in the big book of notes I keep by my bed. Five days later, after I'd just gotten home from singing the song in the studio, I noticed that the page on which I'd written those lines was the same page that had some of my early lyrics for our 2002 parody "Corinthians." I hadn't noticed before, because the title wasn't written on it.
What are the odds that, 19 years later, I would just randomly use the same page for some of my final lyrics for "Second Corinthians"? Wow!
SIGNORA PILATE'S DREAM
I was a major Moody Blues fan in high school and college, so it's hard to believe it took ApologetiX almost 30 years to spoof them. Back in the 1990's, I'd gotten some parody ideas for a couple of their hits from the late 60's and early 70's, but they were too complicated for us to replicate at the time.
Finally, in July 2021, after we'd been covering 80's songs for several months, I started seriously considering "Your Wildest Dreams," their big comeback hit from '86. On September 15, I asked Rich to start working on the drums, keyboards, and choral vocals. Later that morning, I got the idea to use the song to elaborate on Matthew 27:19, which says, "While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: 'Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.'"
I'd been wanting to do a song about Pilate's wife for a while. Jesus Christ Superstar incorrectly portrayed Pilate as having the dream, but she was the one who had it. Then I thought, "Well, the Bible doesn't say her name, and 'Mrs. Pilate's Dream' doesn't rhyme very well with the original." Then it dawned on me that Pilate was a Roman, and the Italian for Mrs. is "Signora," so "in your wildest dreams" could be "Signora Pilate's dream."
Technically, I suppose, it should be in Latin, but the Latin for Mrs. is "Dominae," so I stuck with "Signora." Maybe we can spoof The Moodys' biggest hit someday and call it "Nice to Write Latin."
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