Annotations for Barrett wilbert weed and ryan mccartan seventeen

Lyric: I wanna be with you
Annotation:
Veronica’s point throughout this song is that they should ignore the people who make their life hell and just let it be the two of them. J.D., however, is thinking differently; he believes that if he wants to be with Veronica, he needs to eliminate the people standing in the way. Veronica views J.D. as preventing them from being seventeen, but J.D. views people like the Heathers, Kurt, and Ram as what prevents them from being seventeen.

Lyric: That’s all I want to do
Annotation:
This is NOT the relationship Veronica signed up for. She wanted to be a teenager with J.D., not a murderer.

Lyric: Play some poker
Annotation:
Poker is a game in which you lie to win. In very extreme cases, losing can cost you your life. In Our Love is God, JD lies to Veronica by saying the bullets they were going to use on Kurt and Ram are actually tranquilizers, even though they were actual bullets. In short, knowing JD can be like a very intense and extreme game of poker: you’re going to get lied to, and if you lose, you die.

Lyric: But we let go
Annotation:
To “let go” of something in this sense means to put the experience behind you, leave it in the past, and move onwards. Here, Veronica is not suggesting that J.D. forgets his dark past, but rather that he doesn’t let it control and consume him – instead implying that he could try and live a more normal life with her.

Lyric: Badly damaged
Annotation:
JD constantly seems to feel like the world has spurned him, and his philosophy seems to be: If it’s crap, let’s burn it down without trying to salvage it. By emphasizing “Badly” damaged, it’s another harken to say: “Look what everyone else did to us, look how fucked up we are, this is on them and they should pay. Remember that they hurt us deeply.” It softly alludes to the idea that hey, I’m still hung up on this and I may not be sold. And due to his later actions, he wasn’t sold enough. The pain he endured left a scar he never got over and his self fulfilling prophecy that he was going to turn out to do these bad things and be a villain for revenge came true. In a sense, it is an indication that the rest of this is a lie in the end.

Lyric: You’re the one I choose
Annotation:
The final pitches end on a unsettling yet enjoyable harmony on this line. It gives one a sense of calm and underlying horrors still to come. The calm comes from Veronica, who is satisfied with JD’s answer and convinced that he will stop his homicidal tendencies. On the other hand, we have JD himself, who creates that odd emotional dissonance as he promises Veronica something he knows he can’t keep.

Lyric: Maybe prom night, maybe dancing
Annotation:
This states the Veronica wants J.D. to take her to prom so they have a normal school life as well.

Lyric: Can’t we be seventeen?
 Is that so hard to do?
 If you could let me in
 I could be good with you
Annotation:
Veronica says this multiple times as proof that she truly wants J.D. to change his ways and stop being a murderous psychopath. She just wants to be with him, but not while he’s like this. Not when he’s killing people without much good reason. She even says in the beginning of the song, “We’re not ‘special,’ we’re not ‘different.’  We don’t chose who lives or dies.” She says this because she truly believes that J.D. is capable of this and that she herself is capable of convincing him.

Lyric: If I am what you choose
Annotation:
By that line, she could be meaning that JD has to choose between herself and murder. If he chooses her then they could have a (hopefully)normal life. But if he chooses more murder, he would most likely get caught sometime.

Lyric: Then go buy some summer clothes
Annotation:
Referring to JD’s iconic outfit, his black trenchcoat. Veronica would be happy to go buy some non-winter gear with him. To be normal with him.

Lyric: If we’ve still got the right
Annotation:
J.D. seems to be experiencing some remorse here. We know Veronica definitely doesn’t enjoy what they’ve been doing. J.D. is singing this line alongside Veronica, implying regret for what he has done. They’ve killed three people. Both Veronica and J.D. express some measure of guilt for that, here. Or this is another way J.D. is manipulating Veronica. Whether he’s obsessive and lonely or downright abusive is something we’ll never know for sure. We don’t get another song from J.D.’s perspective until “ I Am Damaged”, at which point J.D. is “far too damaged” to continue living (at least by his standards).

Lyric: [VERONICA & J.D.]
Annotation:
As they begin to sing together in harmony, it seems as if J.D. is agreeing with Veronica and just wants to live a happy life with her. Or J.D. is playing Veronica’s game so she feels “safe” with him, even though he has no intention of changing his ways.

Lyric: Let’s be normal, see bad movies
 Sneak a beer and watch TV
 We’ll bake brownies or go bowling
Annotation:
Veronica, in these lines, is really just asking J.D. to do normal teenage things with her. She just wants a normal life with J.D., but it is a bit late for that as three people are already dead.

Lyric: If you could let me in
 I could be good with you
Annotation:
Veronica says “I could be good with you” instead of “I could be good  for you”. She believes they can change for the better, but they can do it together.

Lyric: [VERONICA]
Annotation:
The chords played before Veronica starts singing are descending. This is the exact opposite as the chord progression in “Fight For Me”, because her perception of J.D have made a 180 degree turn. The fantasy that she imagined previously has shattered since the death of Ram and Kurt, and she is being pulled back down to Earth to a more realistic point of view.

Lyric: If we’ve still got the right
Annotation:
J.D. is asking whether they still have the right to act like seventeen-year-olds. Do they still have a right to act like teenagers when they are dealing with a much more mature and sinister situation? J.D. is taking into stock eveything he and Veronica have done. He must decide what pathway he wants to go on from this point–stay with Veronica or continue to rid the world of all the “bad” people?

Lyric: ’Cause you’re the one I choose
Annotation:
At this point, Veronica has already asked JD to choose between her and his lust for chaos three times. With each line, Veronica is still saying that she chooses him, if he would choose her. J.D. is hesitant to leave his old life behind, but he eventually says he would give up on it for Veronica. The Rule of Three is also invoked “ Our Love is God”, and later in “ Meant To Be Yours”.

Lyric: I’ll stay if I’m what you choose
Annotation:
It’s hard to hear, but in the background of the soundtrack there is a guitar strum very similar to the one that appears in “ Our Love Is God”, when J.D. was trying to get Veronica to answer him. Veronica is waiting for J.D. to repeat what she said, but unlike J.D., she doesn’t scare him into answering. The guitar strum is much softer and less menacing, before finally stopping when J.D. answers her.

Lyric: And you’re right, it really blows
Annotation:
When something “blows”, it sucks. His mom died by walking into an exploding building. It also references J.D.’s pyromaniacal tendencies: when he tries to blow up the school in “ Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)”, and ends up blowing himself up at the end of “ I Am Damaged”.

Lyric: Fine,
Annotation:
Taking place a while after J.D kills Ram and Kurt during the song  Our Love is God, he tries to convince Veronica that what they have been through is the fuel for what he is now trying to accomplish. Veronica has a mix of emotions throughout this song because of that. She loves J.D, but the idea of them killing in order to fix the world scares her. She does not want anyone to get hurt. By saying, “Fine!” she is releasing everything that she is feeling, whilst also telling J.D that she understands what he is saying.

Lyric: Hold me tighter, even closer
Annotation:
Its hard to think about with all the murder and stuff, but Veronica and JD are just teenagers. They need emotional support, and are seeking it in each other. This is a bit unhealthy on JDs side seeing as he “worships” her and would trade his life for hers, but for now this is a great way to deal with pain. This also parallels “ I Am Damaged”, where J.D. says: Please stand back now ‘Little further Even though circumstances have changed between to the two songs, one thing is clear–despite his violent tendencies, J.D. wants to make sure Veronica is safe.

Lyric: And we’ll eat some chili fries
Annotation:
This seems like a minuscule thing compared to everything else–it’s just chili fries. But this musical takes place in the 80’s, when  chili fries started becoming popular. It being minuscule might be important, too. Veronica wants to enjoy the little things, being a normal teenager, doing normal things with J.D., not commit murder or “choose who lives or dies”.

Lyric: So what’s it gonna be?
 I wanna be with you
Annotation:
This line is pretty clear. Veronica’s asking J.D. to choose between her or his anger. At the same time, she’s also trying to persuade him to choose her by reminding him that she loves him and wants to be with him.

Lyric: Can’t we be seventeen?
Annotation:
J.D. is probably directing this question more at himself than at Veronica, given that this is the point she’s been trying to make throughout the whole song. In a way, living a normal life is the hardest thing anyone’s ever asked J.D. to do. He’s spent years telling himself that he’s broken and bad and damaged and has just resigned himself to a life of isolation and anger. Then in comes Veronica, who, sociopath or not, he seems to truly care about. She’s asking him to make the ultimate sacrifice–to let go of all the rage and resentment he’s built up over the years and look at the world with new eyes. His entire persona is based on those bad feelings, and he’s having trouble letting them go because he’s scared of what he’ll be without them. He’s scared of being vulnerable, scared of reaching out, scared of caring about people, because in the past all that’s done is hurt him. At his core, J.D. is a scared, sick kid who needs help but constantly refuses to take it. In the end, his worst enemy isn’t Ram or Kurt or Heather– it’s himself.

Lyric: Can’t we be seventeen?
Annotation:
This line (repeated several times over the course of the song) is basically Veronica pleading J.D. to stay with her and live normally. She doesn’t want to play God and  “kill the dinosaurs”; she just wants to spend time with the boy she loves.

Lyric: Don’t you want a life with me?
Annotation:
Veronica wants a life with JD, but JD wants Veronica for more of a suicide mission to take revenge on society; he claims he wants a life with her, but really, their definition of life is very different. Veronica sees it filled with bonding events, maturing and relationships, while JD has alternate motives. JD does seem to love Veronica, albeit in an obsessive way. He feels that killing people in order to be with Veronica will work better then listening to her and spending time with her.

Lyric: People hurt us
Annotation:
This line references J.D.’s mom, who we learned in  “Freeze Your Brain” is dead. Before “Seventeen”, he says: My dad said it was an accident. But she knew what she was doing. She walked into the building two minutes before Dad blew it up. She waved at me out the window, and then…kaboom. She left me. It also references his dad. He didn’t actually die, but he did become a completely different person and stopped caring for J.D.—vanishing from his life as a father. Everyone J.D. meets either tries to hurt them or to pretend he’s invisible. Nobody–except for Veronica–has tried to actually forge a connection with him.

Lyric: Don’t stop looking in my eyes (Your eyes)
Annotation:
Veronica believes that if JD just stays with her and focuses on her then he’ll get better and she’ll able to rein him in in a way. He’s trying to ground himself in her. He wants to do all these terrible things (and he’s perfectly capable of doing them, as seen in “Our Love Is God”), but maybe there’s a part of him that wants this simple life with Veronica. It’s also interesting how Veronica seems to have taken up the role of protector when originally she hoped J.D. was  someone who could protect her: Hey, could you hold my hand And could you carry me through no man’s land It’s fine if you don’t agree But I would fight for you If you would fight for me Veronica still wants to believe she can make JD better and he seems willing to go along with it, at least for now. In “ The Me Inside of Me”, Veronica sings this line while forging Heather’s suicide note: “They couldn’t see past my rockstar mystique They wouldn’t dare look in my eyes But just underneath was a terrified girl Who clings to her pillow and cries! Veronica is keeping him grounded and present, but looking in someone’s eyes is also a show of love and care. She’s trying to show J.D. that it’s alright to be human and vulnerable, and he doesn’t have to hide under his coolly mysterious persona.

Lyric: Tonight
 
 Yeah, we’re damaged
Annotation:
In the original Off-Broadway production, after “tonight”, the two passionately kiss and then abruptly separate, as if realising now is definitely not the time. Veronica sings her next line as if she’s translating what the kiss has confirmed to her.

Lyric: We’re damaged, really damaged
 But that does not make us wise
 We’re not special, we’re not different
 We don’t choose who lives or dies
Annotation:
It is common for teenagers, especially social outcasts such as Veronica and J.D., to have a superiority complex that leads them to believe they know better than other teenagers and even adults. While J.D. operates under that notion to an extreme degree that becomes a God Complex (thinking that it’s okay to choose who lives or dies based on those he believes are lesser than him), Veronica has reached a point of maturity in which she realizes they are the same as everyone else. Damaged also refers to the penultimate song, “ I Am Damaged”. This might also be a reference to a line in the film.

