Annotations for Jamie muscato and original west end cast of heathers meant to be yours

Lyric: What if high school went away instead?
Annotation:
Having been through from ten high schools to date on account of his father’s job, J.D. has both the loathing and the nomadic lifestyle to easily conceive “high school [going] away instead” without thinking twice. He has no friends, and he doesn’t feel remorse. He blames the world for his problems and constantly justifies his actions by claiming the divine right to decide who is pure and who must perish.

Lyric: Then it hit me like a flash
Annotation:
this line is funny because of the context of the song, that JD wants to blow up the school. this line says “hit me like a flash” which is like spoilers the bomb that will blow him up later

Lyric: Pkhw! Pkhw! Pkhw!
Annotation:
This shows JD’s immature side. “Pkchw” is a sound a child would make to describe an explosion.

Lyric: Finish what we’ve begun!
Annotation:
This is a reference to J.D. often saying that he is getting rid of evil with his murder. As he, with the help of Veronica. has already killed three students, ‘finishing the job’ is killing the rest of the students via bombing.

Lyric: You were all I could trust
Annotation:
This may be a reference to the fact that throughout the musical, J.D. is shown to have no friends besides Veronica. J.D. eventually ends up trusting Veronica during ‘Dead Girl Walking’ as he realizes that they are both, what he thinks, equally crazy.

Lyric: Veronica?
 Aagh!
Annotation:
Veronica immediately jumps out of her makeshift noose and proceeds to rush to her mother. They scream at each other for several seconds with Veronica trying to console her hysterical mother, saying, “I’m so sorry, it was just a joke, I’m so sorry”.

Lyric: I made you a snack
Annotation:
This might be a reference to Candy Store where one line is “let your mommy fix you a snack”. It might also be a way for the mother to make amends with Veronica over what she said in ‘Yo, Girl’.

Lyric: No! God, no! Veronica!
Annotation:
JD thinks Veronica has committed suicide here. It is revealed that she faked it.

Lyric: We’ll watch the smoke pour out the doors
 Bring marshmallows
 We’ll make s’mores
 We can smile and cuddle while the fire roars!
Annotation:
This reveals how psyco JD is because he sees this as humorous.

Lyric: We, the students of Westerberg High
 Will die
 Our burnt bodies may finally get through
 To you
 Your society churns out slaves and blanks
 No thanks
 Signed, the students of Westerberg High
 Goodbye
Annotation:
This might be how JD sees society.

Lyric: Tonight our school is Vietnam
Annotation:
This is referencing the other mentions of high school being a war in other songs.

Lyric: You chucked me out like I was trash
 For that you should be dead
 But! But! But!
Annotation:
This is a manipulative and abusive tactic. “See? I’m giving you another chance, I’m nice!” This is one of many used by JD.

Lyric: Finish what we’ve begun
Annotation:
he’s talking about the murders. For those who haven’t seen the musical, JD kills Heather Chandler, Ram, and Kurt.

Lyric: You carved open my heart
 Can’t just leave me to bleed!
 
 Veronica!
 Open the—open the door, please
 Veronica, open the door
 Veronica, can we not fight anymore, please?
 Can we not fight anymore?
 Veronica, sure, you’re scared
 I’ve been there, I can set you free!
 Veronica, don’t make me come in there
 I’m gonna count to three!
 One!
 Two! Fuck it!
Annotation:
After not receiving so much as a response from Veronica, J.D. becomes desperate, trying to get her to open the closet door. When she still doesn’t respond, he decides to open it himself. Only to find her having hung herself, which is secretly fake.

Lyric: Our classmates thought they were signing a petition
 You gotta come out here and see what they really signed!
Annotation:
The petition, which J.D. had blackmailed Heather Duke to start, is actually a disguised suicide note. Veronica had deemed it suspicious earlier in the musical, right before Duke tells her about Martha’s attempted suicide.

