The Last 5 Years Question

[broadwayrules]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 9:30pm

I know this may be a stupid question, but why in the song Shiksa Goddess, does Jamie say that that you could do be anyone as long as you didn't go to Hebrew school, when Jamie is Jewish? Now, am I just hearing the lyrics wrong, or is their a plot point that I missed?

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 9:31pm

I haven't seen the show so I can't say for sure but I think that's just a bit of rebellion on Jamie's part as he was expected to date and eventually marry the "nice Jewish girl".

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 9:33pm

I know a lot of nice Jewish boys who would rather date Shiksas that nice Jewish girls... its a rebellion thing. Plus,what boy wants to marry a JAP?

ETA: if its any consolation, I'm totally in love with a Shaygets right now...

Updated On: 4/17/08 at 09:33 PM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 9:36pm

He's tried dating all of the Jewish girls he knows and hasn't been impressed, which is why he lists off all of those names.

[broadwayrules]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 9:37pm

Oh, thanks!

[jasonf]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 10:18pm

Interesting, I always thought of it differently. The lyric, for the record is:

"If you had a tattoo, that wouldn't matter
If you had a shaved head, that would be cool
If you came from Spain or Japan
Or the back of a van
Just as long as you're not from Hebrew school"

My take was always that it wouldn't matter to his mother or grandfather if he dated the tattooed girl or the shaved head girl -- but if they're not from Hebrew School, then there'd be a problem. It's kind of twisted wording, almost like a Yiddish dialect, but that's how I always understood that lyric.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 10:24pm

Jamie is willing to date anyone - someone who drinks blood, someone's whose mother and brother had relations with each other, etc. - as long as they did NOT go to Hebrew school.

Basically, he wants anyone who is not Jewish.

[aliciag]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 10:34pm

Yeah... I always took it that the whole point of the shaved head, tatoo, etc stuff was that he didn't care what his family thought and wanted to go against their opinion that he marry a Jewish girl.

[Liverpool]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 10:39pm

i never realized this song was so confusing.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 10:42pm

I think jasonf is absolutely correct.
As long as she's NOT from Hebrew School,
His mother won't like her.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 10:44pm

Where's Jason Robert Brown on this board when you need him?

Actually, I think someone asked him that on his website once...

[tgn915]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 10:49pm

I have to disagree with CurtainPullDowner and jasonf.

Although I never really thought twice about these lyrics, I think that it's Jamie saying that HE doesn't care if she has a shaved head or once was a man.

Later in the song he sings,

"If your mother and your brother had relations with eachother
and your father was connected to the Gotti clan,
I'd say, 'Well, you know, nobody's perfect"
It's tragic but it's true.
I'd say, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, I've been waiting for someone like you."

He isn't talking about how his mother would react. Like most of the people who replied, I think he's saying that you can be ANYTHING but Jewish, and you're good.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 10:53pm

Well, I think it's semantics, and not anti-semantics, but we are actually agreeing.

[scaryclowns223]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 10:55pm

Yeah, this is a pretty straight-forward lyric.

This is his "I Want" song in the musical- and the "I Want" statement is "I want to meet a girl who isn't Jewish."

So what he's trying to say is that he could meet the ugliest, most repugnant girl on the street and would fall in love with her, as long as she wasn't Jewish. He wouldn't care if she had a shaved head, as long as she was a Shiksa.

I also never realized this lyric could be so confusing...

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 11:06pm

Well put, but being a rebellion, pissing off his Mother is a part of his "I want", and part of his wanting a shiska in the first place.
Oye.

[LittlexFallxOfxRain]

Posted: 4/18/08 at 10:35pm

I just assumed it was rebellion and him not being satisfied with the Jewish girls.
Beautiful show by the way.

Posted: 4/18/08 at 10:40pm

But how did a Jewish guy get named "Jamie"?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/18/08 at 10:49pm

Let's explore that.
He probably changed it for good copy.
But he didn't change his last name?

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/18/08 at 11:55pm

Well they mounted it here ib Denver and I plan to see it.