I don't know - I think this is one of those things that you can call 
'spirituality without religion.' Or, at least, spirituality that 
trancends religions.

I'm not Christian, if you hadn't noticed - I'm a virtually 
nonpractacing Wiccan. I know, that's just an inch more spiritual than 
an AmeriChristian, but *I* get something out of it. But this song 
*hits* me, just where it should. Especially when it's done well. I 
mean, reading the lyrics doesn't do it for me, any more than reading 
the Bible makes me want to convert. Or than reading the Quaran would 
make me want to learn Hebrew, I guess, though I've never read it. 
*sigh* Another book on the list, I guess.

Anyhoo, listening to Gethsemane(from Jesus Christ Superstar, if 
you're one of the few people in this universe I haven't beat over the 
head with a copy of it yet,) especially performed well, is a really 
powerful feeling. Of course, doing it well seems to be more difficult 
than just singing the thing. I mean, it's like that with a lot of 
music, but it seems almost doubly so in this case. A kid singing 
doggerel can make it come off as kawaii without a lot of effort, but 
any guy attempting this piece is going to chuck in some serious 
rehersal time or come off sounding like a "right 
git"(DammitIshouldn'tbeabletousethatkindofexpressionIgetallmyBritishc
ulturethroughosmosisandRedDwarftapesandMontyPythonandI'llshutupnow.) 
And even with a lot of rehersal, it seems, one can majorly screw up 
the song.

There are very few songs that are utterly impossible to screw up as 
long as you sing them on key. Most of those are either doggerel set 
to music, Disney(see above), or so emotionally powerful that you 
can't screw them up if you want to(I hold the belief that Empty 
Chairs at Empty Tables is one of these songs. Please do not 
disillusion me - it would fracture my already tenuous grip on 
reality.) Gesthemane(and Javert's Suicide, but that's another story) 
is NOT one of these unharmable songs. This has been proven to me by, 
surprisingly, one of the guys on my List Of Guys With Sexy Voices.

Let me get this straight: it's not that I don't *like* Michael 
Crawford. Please let me assure you that nobody could ever get the 
Phantom of the Opera quite like him(on that topic, if I ever see 
Antonio Banderas, someone remind me to impale him on his own ego.) 
However... he has a habit that normally one would consider a Godsend 
- he sings every piece of music on the music.

Exactly on the music.

No deviation whatsovever from the written notes.

Now, while this may be considered a good thing in certain circles, 
when one is attempting to perform a song like Gethsemane, which gets 
most of its emotional power from the singer, forcing ones voice into 
strict meter can absolutely ruin half of the song. And the lyrics 
aren't enough to carry the force of the song when the singer can't 
carry the lyrics. Like I said, reading the lyrics doesn't quite do it 
for me. Sorry, Michael.