If you've been reading my blogs even a few months, you know how I feel about Godspell, so I'm not going to take you through it all again. I do want to say a few words of introduction to the song I'm about to embed, however.
It's called "Beautiful City," and it was first written for the film version (which is the clip you're going to see). In the days after September 11, 2001, the song became a popular choice for use in memorial services and benefits for victims of the attacks.
Writer Stephen Schwartz became unsatisfied with the lyric he had written in later years, and wrote a new one which was used in stage productions that incorporated the song thereafter. I respectfully disagree with Schwartz on this point.
He reportedly thinks the original lyric is "too sentimental." I know what he means but for me a huge part of the appeal of Godspell has always been that it goes over and around all cynicism. For me, it can't be too sentimental.
Here's "Beautiful City."
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