An irreverent soundtrack: the Iron Maiden accompanying Cima da Conegliano

The grace of the characters’ hands, so carefully depicted, the depth of their gazes, the vanishing clouds in the background, all contribute to create a delicate intensity that captures the viewer’s attention when glancing at “Christ supported by the Virgin Mary, Nicodemus and St. John the Evangelist with Marie”. According to art historian Bernard Berenson, Cima painted it “with vigor, with exquisite precision and a sense of form that was rarely surpassed in Venice; the transparent, fresh and pearly colors that were hardly ever cold and harsh; the solid modeling that at times resembled porcelain”. How did it happen that 500 years later Judas has become a guide?

 

Lights out – We live in a world
of darkness
No doubt – Everything’s up for sale
We sleep – All of the world is burning
We pray – To god for a better deal
Nothing is sacred – Back then or now
Everything’s wasted…
Is that all there is?
Can I go now?

Judas my guide
Whispers in the night
Judas my guide

Fight wars – Die in a blaze of glory
Come home – Meat in a plastic sack
Fall down – Better pray to your God
for mercy
So kneel – and help the blade cut clean
Nothing is sacred – Back then or now
Everyone’s wasted…
Is that all there is?
Is that it now?

I live in the black
I have no guiding light
I’m whispering in your dreams…

Judas my guide
Whispers in the night
Judas my guide

Judas my guide
Whispers in the night
Judas my guide

 

– lirycs of “Judas be my guide”, Bruce Dickinson/David Murray, from Fear of the Dark, 1992. This is the third Iron Maiden album to top the UK Albums Chart. It is the band’s most successful record in North America, with 438,000 copies sold as of 2008.

July 15, 2015