Annotations for Jessica keenan wynn daniel cooney dan domenech michelle duffy and aj meijer the me inside of me

Lyric: And give the poor my Nordic Track
Annotation:
I couldn’t find an older one but here’s a newer model from the brand, https://www.360fitnesssuperstore.com/products/nordictrack-new-x24-treadmill?srsltid=AfmBOopzXzpysid-r9lVIgfGrNMNkIBCJDIz7xetFWf5NU1fKyOkeHE It’s a fancy treadmill!

Lyric: That’s the curse of popularity
Annotation:
Popularity is described as a curse. Though you are viewed as someone who is above everyone, that also comes with a negative. She isn’t seen a real person, and is heavily misunderstood.

Lyric: I am more
Annotation:
Throughout the time that we see Heather Chandler in the show she is presented as a cruel, mean, mythic bitch. But she’s more than that, as we learn in this song. She cares about others, and wants to be understood.

Lyric: Wha-what’s her final statement
Annotation:
In this song Veronica and J.D are creating a fake suicide note from Heather Chandler after they kill her with Drano. This note that they are about to write is going to be out there as the last thing she ever wrote, so it has to be believable.

Lyric: No one thinks a pretty girl has substance
Annotation:
I know heather c. Dies from drinking drain cleaner but i also see this as no one thinks a pretty girl would overdose (like macnamara attempted) on substances Or you could see it as chandler being characterised as a typical dumb blonde, she has no substance, her looks are everything she os good for

Lyric: [HEATHER CHANDLER, spoken]
Annotation:
It is a common joke in the fandom that Ms. Fleming says these lines because on the YouTube channel Heathers Lyrics it has these lines said by Ms. Fleming instead as a mistake.

Lyric: That’s good
Annotation:
At the beginning of the song, J.D. continues to “encourage” Veronica to write a forged suicide note for Heather C., starting to reveal his manipulative nature.

Lyric: And you, and you (And you, and you)
Annotation:
This is presumed to be an echo of everyone seeing Heather as something more.

Lyric: Keep going, this has to be good enough to fool the cops
Annotation:
He says this as if the cops are smart, which, as we learn from the next lines, they are not.

Lyric: And I’ll be the me inside of her
Annotation:
The thing is, Heather was always really rude to everyone and never did anything to make them like her. But then when she died, she somehow became a sort of martyr.

Lyric: Box up my clothing for Goodwill
Annotation:
Goodwill is a store of which accepts donations for their stock, and sells stuff cheaply.

Lyric: Cold, uncaring planet?
Annotation:
JD has a theme of talking about how terrible of a place the world is, and how he wants to change that by getting rid of “every asshole.”

Lyric: I am more than just a source of handjobs
Annotation:
During the nightmare sequence, Veronica imagines Heather Chandler berating her for sleeping with J.D., but this line (in addition to her behavior during Big Fun) suggests perhaps she was known for sleeping around, or at least rumored to be.

Lyric: I suggest we get everyone into the cafeteria and just talk and feel, together
Annotation:
I’m just going to point out that this line is another example of what a bad teacher Ms. Fleming is, but it’s a normal thing this time: teenagers hate to “talk and feel together”. It’s a thing we love to complain about.

Lyric: No one sees the me inside of me
Annotation:
the  unique way the title and song were written is truly a masterpiece. The Me Inside of Me not only notes that there are two personalities, but that one is trapped. Also, this song is a fake anthem. It tries to teach about not judging a book by its cover, but the song gets lost in the pages. Since the suicide note was faked, it carries the sinister notion that Veronica “invented” Heather’s struggles. Also, Ms. Fleming desperately wants to connect with the children, but gets caught up in fame and misses the fact that she was originally helping.

Lyric: I failed to be
Annotation:
This line is echoed by the faculty, and especially Ms. Fleming. You probably remember her solo in “Shine a Light,” but she also sang “Why do I cry myself to sleep!” in “Beautiful.” Also in “Beautiful,” she yells at the Heathers for being out of class without a hall pass, ignoring one of The Heather’s bulimia. She sings “I’m bigger than John Lennon,” later in the song, indicating that she wanted to “feel” so she could be famous and on TV. That is like Dear Evan Hansen, except Evan is just caught up in the middle of it all. I think this is a clever and often overlooked line. Also, I think I just realized something.  Ms. Fleming’s turmoil comes from the fact that she isn’t a teacher or a student. She teaches classes, but she tries to live vicariously through the fake Heather that Veronica created. She connects too much to her, which causes the problem. Ms. Fleming doesn’t treat this as a suicide. She tried to use Heather’s anguish to be noble, especially in “Shine a Light” and “Lifeboat,” where she literally stops Heather McNamara from “healing,” solely because it doesn’t fit with Ms. Fleming’s ideals, which include the fact that her assembly will heal everyone.

Lyric: Shoulder pads
Annotation:
In the late 80s-early 90s, it was considered fashionable to wear blazers with padded shoulders.

Lyric: But she’s made us better than we were
Annotation:
Chandler’s death seems to have united the school, at least temporarily. Previously, the students of Westerberg were quick to insult anyone and everyone, they now tolerate each other long enough to extol the deceased’s virtues.

Lyric: She’s the twin from whom I’m separated
Annotation:
As Veronica has portrayed Chandler as a deep person that committed suicide out of loneliness, the students begin to see themselves in her struggles. This particular student identified with her so much as to see himself as nearly identical to her, hence “twins”, though he was  previously bullied by the popular crowd. The Geek clearly has a special connection with Heather, considering what she said in “ Beautiful”: I’d like to kidnap a Heather and photograph her naked in an abandoned warehouse and leave her tied up for the rats

Lyric: Heather would be so proud of you
Annotation:
This line illustrates how Ms. Fleming is using Heather as a symbol for self improvement. This comments on how people make suicides about themselves instead about those who are hurting. This line is also extremely insensitive and comes off as typical rhetoric. Instead of acknowledging societal difficulties, she makes it about personal improvement and bestows a kind of sainthood on Heather.

Lyric: Give them my hats and my CDs
 My pumps, my flats, my three TVs
Annotation:
This lyric alludes to the fact that Heather C. is immensely rich. Though owning more than one TV is commonplace now, it was much rarer in the 80’s. CDs, too, were a luxury, rather than the lower-quality, clunky cassette tapes.

Lyric: My looks were just like prison bars
Annotation:
Beauty is always something that a girl wants, but if you have it…it’s not always good. Girls have been constantly told to ‘sit still and look pretty’, we’re encouraged to smile more, put on make up, and hide our faults. Or, God forbid, a pretty woman starts having a successful career, people will tell her she’s only gotten this far because she’s pretty. Veronica is playing on Heather C’s looks to further explain her reasoning for “killing herself”, Everyone  admired and feared Heather C, and so making her “hate” her looks would make her more relatable, and would enourage everyone rying to feel sympathy for her so they won’t read further into the situation and realise the truth.

Lyric: Conjure her up in your mind
Annotation:
This wording is interesting, since Heather C actually appears later in the song.

Lyric: Aw, hell
 Long weekend for everybody
Annotation:
The kids know exactly how serious it is when one of their classmates dies.  They are just relieved to hear they get to go home early. And being kids they have a short attention span. In fact, one of the most heartwrenching moments in the New York production was here. During the preceding chorus, as the teachers stood downstage left reverently quoting the fake suicide note’s saddest lyrics (“But I weep for all I failed to be./ Maybe I can help the world by leaving”), a clump of students including Heather Mac, Heather Duke, Ram and Kurt stood upstage right, silently watching the teachers.  They seemed solemn and shaken.  Then when Principal Gowan shouted “Aw, hell. Long weekend for everybody!”, and they whoop, you could feel the kids' relief at getting to turn their attention away from their friend’s suicide.

Lyric: She’s the horse I never got for Christmas
Annotation:
Many kids in their childhood wish for a horse/pony, a very expensive and unrealistic gift. Those kids who did have their wishes granted were lucky to have rich parents to give they everything they ask for. Like the unreachable horse, Heather C. was a person everyone only wished they could be.

Lyric: [VERONICA & H. CHANDLER]
 They couldn’t see past my rockstar mystique
 They wouldn’t dare look in my eyes
 
 [VERONICA, H. CHANDLER & COPS]
 But just underneath was a terrified girl
 Who clings to her pillow and cries
Annotation:
According to Veronica’s falsified account of Heather C’s life, people didn’t give her a chance to prove she wasn’t really as rude and intense as she came off. People were too scared of her to know the real Heather. They were so scared that they wouldn’t even make eye contact with her, and Veronica is making out that  it really affected her.

Lyric: No one sees the me inside of me
Annotation:
The honest truth about Heather Chandler was that there was no “her inside of her”, she just liked being a bitch, and basically stated it. The other Heathers were actually motivated by something which made it worse for Veronica since the uncaring leader is dead. They are free now to do what ever they want.

Lyric: Heather cried, our sins fell on her shoulders
Annotation:
This is an overt reference to literal Jesus Christ dying for the sins of humanity, combined with Heather’s use of “Jesus Christ” as an exclamation. As well as having the effect of a humorous echo, this line emphasizes how Heather’s death didn’t end her reign over the high school, it elevated her to almost literal godlike status. In that sense, Veronica killing Heather had the opposite effect to the one she intended; Veronica basically turned Chandler into a martyr.

Lyric: [J.D., spoken]
Annotation:
This is where we first see Veronica be heavily influenced by J.D. She’s been driven to accidental murder, and now she’s going to cover it up.

Lyric: Look what we’ve done, we’re breaking through
Annotation:
Ms. Fleming presumes that since Veronica hangs out with the Heathers, she is just as shallow and petty as them, though Veronica was always like this.

Lyric: Wo-ho-hoah
 Is it murder?
Annotation:
This line is a funny little contrast with JD’s previous line, “This has to be good enough to fool the  cops.” It’s said darkly, as if the cops are really smart, but once the cops show up, it turns out they aren’t as smart as they seem to be. The shock and almost excitement in the McCord’s voice shows that this is a total shock. Westerburg probably doesn’t see many big stories like murders or suicides, being just a small Ohio town. It explains why everything that happens in the musical is just so shocking and significant to the town.

Lyric: A snatch
Annotation:
This is a slang term for a vagina, and is probably used in the same context as “cnt”.

Lyric: Donate my car to crippled kids
 Or to those ghetto moms on crack
Annotation:
These two lines are meant to reaffirm that, although Heather C. is given depth and a personality beyond just being a “popular girl” stereotype, she is still petty and judgemental (which is in line with the view that the students and staff of Westerberg had of her). It’s most likely phrased this way by Veronica in an attempt to make the suicide note more convincing and “authentic”-sounding.

Lyric: [NEW WAVE PARTY GIRL, spoken]
Annotation:
Even though Heather C. is “opening up”, this shows that people still think of themselves as inferior to her. To this goth girl, any sort of interaction with Heather is still a privilege, even if she is dead.

Lyric: Veronica, you’re very quiet
 What’s on your mind?
Annotation:
In  Beautiful, Ms. Fleming is the one that goes “Who’s that with Heather?” Now she knows Veronica’s name. Even though Ms. Fleming isn’t a student, being popular affects Veronica in this way too. The fact that Ms. Fleming singled Veronica out, despite all the kids in the school being there and only two or three actually speaking is another example of that. Ms. Fleming now knows Veronica by name because of her social stance, and notices that she is quiet. It also adds to the awkward factor, since Veronica forged the note, killed Heather, and is now trying to lay low.

Lyric: My God
Annotation:
Ms. Fleming sounds incredulous at Veronica’s reasoning here. Is she about to see through Veronica and call her out in front of the whole school? …Nope.

Lyric: I’ve ever read
Annotation:
This makes it seem like Ms. Fleming has read multiple suicide notes in her life. Either she’s read more than one suicide note in her life or it’s the  only suicide note she’s ever read.

Lyric: Heather Chandler’s not your everyday suicide
Annotation:
Heather Chandler, depicted as a very bold character in the musical, doesn’t seem like she would give up on life itself. She may been a bad person, but she was not a weak one, and her strong social presence in the school calls for more attention than most students' suicide would have warranted. This line also introduces a flippant attitude towards suicide that underscores the suicide trend at Westerburg. Suicide is unremarkable; it’s the fact that a Heather was the person to kill herself that gets attention.

Lyric: Thank you, Ms. Fleming
Annotation:
After he says this, all the other teachers laugh at her. She is ostracized for being different, showing that there is not much of a gap in between the generations of students and teachers.

Lyric: Heather sees the me inside of me
Annotation:
This is also a pun—the line can be heard as both “Heather sees the me inside of me” and “Heather C’s the me inside of me”

Lyric: No one thinks a pretty girl has feelings
 No one gets her insecurity
Annotation:
This is an interesting sentiment because Heather is dead because she was seen as a monster, not a person. Though it was an accident on Veronica’s, the lack of crippling remorse felt immediately after the death shows that she played into this “A pretty girl doesn’t have feelings” mindset. J.D. plays into it entirely throughout the show, showing in part his lack of self awareness as well. Veronica writing this is significant because it opens her to the possibility of realizing that the people she hurts, no matter what kind of person they were, were human. Starting from the premise of “a seemingly happy, popular teenage girl” and getting to “suicide in her bedroom” takes some stretching, and this was the only plausible route for Veronica to go. She’s a good writer, as we see here and later in the song (with Ms. Fleming) when she makes up some motivation on the fly. Throughout this song, Veronica is also writing about her own popularity, vicariously through Heather.

Lyric: She’s the dove that sings outside my window
Annotation:
This line is extra ironic from Martha who was subject to her horrible “jokes”.

Lyric: No one thinks a pretty girl can touch you
Annotation:
Heather was beautiful, but she was also unattainable. She was so above everyone else that they didn’t dare come too close. She even dances alone when everyone else is dancing with someone in “Big Fun”.  It’s lonely at the top.

Lyric: Hey, not so fast, kids
 They’re refueling the buses, which gives us a solid half-hour of healing
Annotation:
This line is odd because while the entire school is there, some of them should be able to drive. It also shows how Ms. Fleming is so focused on getting everyone together to put on a show of feeling and depth instead of just letting them think it over on their own terms or leave if they are able. She thinks that healing from the trauma of classmate suicide is easy, superficial, and can be completed in half an hour.

Lyric: Holy crap, this is awesome!
Annotation:
This is something that JD will actually acknowledge throughout the musical. He, and in this case Heather, see that “suicide” has it’s benefits. Because of the societal importance we place on life, it is easy to pity people who commit suicide in the way that it creates the perception that they were somehow better people because they died. The same thing happens with Kurt and Ram. When JD kills himself later in the musical, he is attempting the same thing. Heather was popular before, but that was because of fear. Now, people actually perceive her as a good person under that mask of horrible meanness, spreading her influence. Making it awesome!

Lyric: This is the loveliest suicide note
Annotation:
“Lovely” is a somewhat creepy way to describe someone’s parting words. Ms. Fleming, though she does try to help, is just further distancing herself from the children because she acts as if suicide is just an excuse for her to be noble. She treats this note as if it were something submitted to her to look over and judge, like an essay or book review. This hints towards Ms. Fleming’s attitude later on in the musical, where she sensationalizes the student’s feelings and thoughts of suicide in order to get media attention. Ms. Fleming represents adults who think that they are helping teenagers, when in reality they are really having no effect because they can’t properly connect with their students. This along with the rest of her comments and how she handles all of the suicides clearly  demonstrates that.

Lyric: No, look
 Here’s a suicide note
Annotation:
The speed at which the cops dismiss investigation shows the motif of how adults tend to not understand teenagers. The cops were quick to just know it was suicide without proper investigation because…well, that’s just what kids do, right? The almost trivialization by law enforcement further widens the gap between the adult and the teenage world because it is two adults actively saying, “Well we don’t know exactly what happened besides this suicide note, but hey it’s just a kid, what else could possibly have happened?”

Lyric: I send the kids home before lunch and the switchboard’ll light up like a Christmas tree
Annotation:
A switchboard is a manual control for landline telephones, usually displayed as a panel with buttons to direct, operate, and control different lines or calls. Each line on the panel will light up when a call is pending or taken. The principal is suggesting that, if he lets the students leave before lunch, parents or higher-ups in the district will be calling in with questions or complaints. To keep the workload off of him, he’d rather keep the students in class.

Lyric: Believe it or not, I knew about fear
 I knew the way loneliness stung
 I hid behind smiles and crazy hot clothes
 I learned to kiss boys with my tongue
Annotation:
While forging a suicide note, Veronica plays off of the idea that being hot and popular is really hard. She made Heather C. relatable in a way she has never been before, this later charms Mrs. Fleming and some classmates. Not only is she doing this to humanize Heather C. in a way, but as an outlet to show others how she felt before being accepted into the group. She was the one who is hiding behind smiles and “crazy hot clothes” and yet still feeling lonely. In becoming accepted by the school, Veronica has given up her best friend and many of her morals to achieve the respect she has.

Lyric: Maybe I can help the world by leaving
 Maybe that’s the me inside of me
Annotation:
This is funny, because by saying that committing suicide is the real Heather C, it could be implying that Heather is dead inside.

