Annotations for Michelle duffy barrett wilbert weed and ryan mccartan meant to be yours

Lyric: We were meant to be one
Annotation:
This line alludes to the quote in the Bible, Mark 10:8-9 : and the two shall become one flesh; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. meaning J.D. feels a sense of destiny and decided fate on being with Veronica. This also may a reference to the song  Our Love is God, showing how J.D. thinks God insinuates their ‘love’ to be all-powerful–Veronica should have no choice, she must be with him. J.D. thinking their ‘love’ is what He intended is extremely ironic, though, since their relationship being tainted with toxicity and manipulation is even an understatement. Three people had been brutally murdered. Additionally, “We were  meant to be one” echoes the typical prince-princess romance in Disney; for example, in  Love Is An Open Door Anna and Hans sing: You and  I were just  meant to be J.D. possibly feels his and Veronica’s story is set, and she has no freedom–contrasting the lyric “I can set you free”.

Lyric: Open the door
Annotation:
Could be a reference to the movie, as in the movie Veronica yells at JD to open the door.

Lyric: Let’s
Annotation:
Continuation of the ubiquitous use of inclusive pronouns in this song. JD presents almost every action as an effort between him and Veronica, effectually shedding himself of some of the blame and furthermore blaming others for his actions.

Lyric: Finish what we’ve begun
Annotation:
This could be about how before this point, they’ve killed Heather C, Kurt and Ram, so JD wants to kill of the whole school to sort of finish what they’ve sort of started.

Lyric: In the rubble of their tomb
Annotation:
This is about how Westerburg High is like a tomb, and how when all the students “commit suicide”, the school will be a tomb and carry on a sort of legacy for them.

Lyric: I can’t make it alone (Ah, make it alone)
Annotation:
JD is, once again, being manipulative. He’s trying to guilt Veronica by telling her that this will break him. She  needs to help him because he’s too weak. But Veronica’s not falling for it this time.

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: So when the high school gym goes “boom”
 With everyone inside
Annotation:
J.D is telling Veronica his plan about bombing the school with all of his classmates inside.

Lyric: We’ll plant this note explaining why they died
Annotation:
The note has been signed, unwillingly, by everyone in the school believing it was a petition. JD believes that this will convince all of society that the school blowing up really was agreed upon by everyone.

Lyric: Bam, bam, bam
Annotation:
Yet another Rule Of Three statement

Lyric: They never see their senior prom
Annotation:
Prom was also mentioned in  “Seventeen”, a song which we can safely say is probably the exact opposite to this one in intention. The line used in that song was “Maybe prom night/Maybe dancing”. Here, J.D. suggests destroying all chances of prom, therefore also (symbolically) throwing away everything said and suggested in “Seventeen”. It also could be a reference to the movie, as the Prom night was the night following the Pep Rally.

Lyric: And set loose all that truthful shit inside
Annotation:
Juxtaposing the word “truthful” with the s word kind of lessens the genuineness of the former, doesn’t it? It really feels like JD’s pretense is falling apart here; he starts out all poetic about Veronica setting loose the truth inside of him, but the s word seems almost to just slip out, not that he apparently notices…which is also a sign that he isn’t minding his facade as much anymore.

Lyric: Come on, get dressed
Annotation:
J.D. is using another abusive tactic here, he is treating Veronica as if she is property and belonging to J.D.. This entire song proves this: “You were meant to be mine.”

Lyric: All is forgiven, baby!
Annotation:
J.D. clearly has not forgiven Veronica for what he feels she did wrong, as he keeps bringing it up. This inconsistency in his feelings this early on in the song shows us as the audience how unstable J.D. is.

Lyric: I was meant to be yours (Ah, meant to be yours)
 We were meant to be one (Ah, meant to be one)
Annotation:
This is a line commonly used by emotional manipulators. They will try to convince you that you are nothing without them and that you only belong to them, which is what J.D. has been doing throughout this entire song. He’s also making himself sound like the victim again, by implying that neither of them are whole without the other and that Veronica, by leaving him, is depriving him of that wholeness. Alternately, “meant to be one” could be a reference to the joining of two lovers during sex, and intimate moment often portrayed with no small amount of luster and poetry in classical and modern art and literature.

Lyric: But, but, but
Annotation:
JD’s repetition here shows how unstable he is, and therefore how abusive he is to Veronica. This repetition, in the form of a triad, suggests he is stuttering with his words and finally reveals to us, as the audience, and Veronica how mentally ill he is and how much danger she and her peers are now in. The fact that this was repeated three times is significant in continuing the use of the number three in the entirety of the Heathers (Three Heathers, count of three to kill Kurt and Ram, etc.) and also continues the concept of the rule of three. The rule of three is a rule in writing, which basically states that if something is in a group of three (think the Heathers or even the childhood story of the Three Little Pigs) the reader will be more engaged and remember more parts of the story. The rule of three is important as ever at this point as this is JD’s true mental state is made even clearer in this song.

Lyric: I was meant to be yours
Annotation:
He cuts the verse off too quickly and changes too fast to be normal. The way he says it sounds irregular and disturbing, because he’s faking it. He’s been faking empathy this whole time and its only just showing now; its not that he’s suddenly gone crazy, it’s that he’s finally slipping up as he loses his grip completely.

Lyric: Veronica?
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: You’re my date to the pep rally tonight
Annotation:
… which they’ll blow up.

Lyric: They made you blind, messed up your mind
Annotation:
In this line it becomes apparent that J.D. truly does not comprehend the weight of his actions. He doesn’t want to have to confront his conscience telling him that what he has done is wrong, so he convinces himself that it is not his fault that Veronica has left him, rather it was everyone else’s fault for manipulating her and making her “blind”. He also doesn’t realize how crazy he is. He says   they messed up  her mind, when he is obviously much more unstable than they are. J.D. believes that he is right and sane, two things he’s not. He’s so messed up he can’t see that, so he’s the blind one.

Lyric: They’re keeping you away from me
Annotation:
Throughout the musical, J.D. has been shown to have some possessive tendencies. He wants Veronica all to himself, and the thought of her with others and not him, makes him even more insane, especially since she is now trying to distance herself from him and all the things he’s done. He’s also trying to justify Veronica breaking up with him as the fault of other people other than his. Yet again, J.D. uses language terrifyingly typical of abusers; very few will tolerate their victims maintaining a connection with their friends and relatives, because those connections could pose a threat to the abusers' hold on their victims. Of course the outside world is “keeping her away from him” – other people can influence her with ideas and observations counter to his own until she turns on him, as she has now done. No one understands this better than someone who weaponizes it.

Lyric: Veronica, sure, you’re scared, I’ve been there
 I can set you free
Annotation:
This is an abuse tactic. He is trying to get her to trust him by saying he understands, and therefore putting himself in a position of dominance. He would be the main person in her life, the only one that understands. He is also saying that he can free her, implying that he is the only person that can do that.

Lyric: Can we not fight anymore?
Annotation:
This is a childish thing to say. Its something a little kid might say to another if they want to make up. He is friendly and pleading, and almost submissive, because he is approaching her for forgiveness instead of vice-versa. It’s also fun to realize that the “fight” we’re witnessing consists of a monologue by J.D. to a closed door behind which Veronica says exactly nothing.

Lyric: Veronica, don’t make me come in there
Annotation:
This is something a parent might say to a child in order to get them to cooperate. As J.D. says this, he is putting himself as her superior–insinuating that he sees Veronica as naïve, like a small child that doesn’t understand the world, in comparison to him–and saying that she should obey him or there will be punishment. His tone changes quite drastically here, from gentle and persuasive to demanding and threatening.

Lyric: And so I built a bomb
 Tonight, our school is Vietnam
Annotation:
These lines allude to the Vietnam War, which was fought slightly over a decade previous to the setting of the movie/play. The singer (J.D.) is referring to the explosives often used by Vietcong guerrillas and American troops alike. The school is also constantly referred to as a battleground as well as seen in  “Fight For Me” when Veronica asks J.D. to  “carry (her) through no man’s land”. This is the only time JD/anyone in the musical means this literally. Every other battlefield/war references was a comparison or metaphor. Until this.

Lyric: Veronica
Annotation:
J.D. is trying to manipulate her here. He doesn’t necessarily want to stop fighting, he wants her to stop defying him. Notice how J.D. is asking for them to stop fighting, rather than asking for forgiveness. One does not usually ask for the argument to be over because that implies that the issues raised within the argument have not been adequately dealt with. This implies that J.D. isn’t dealing with the disagreement/breakup in a realistic or mature manner. J.D. has never been one to plead before this scene. This indicates that to some level he does care whether or not Veronica comes back to him. This desperation over his loss of control is apparent throughout the whole thing. This is the only line where J.D. sounds genuinely upset by the situation in which he finds himself—his tone and word choice are reminiscent of a small child. Remember that Veronica has literally become his everything at this point in time. He may not be asking for forgiveness, and he may only be showing this distress to manipulate her, but the emotion behind it is real. He’s losing everything, and he knows it—and he’s scared, even in the throes of his insanity. It’s easy to condemn him, here. It’s harder to remember that he’s still a child, himself.

Lyric: Oh my God
 No, Veronica
Annotation:
J.D. essentially had two plans when he came here—convince Veronica to come back to him and they’d blow up the school together, or J.D. kills her and remains in control until her end. In the movie, J.D. actually says outright that he was planning to kill her, but not before trying to convince her to do it with him (earlier in this song he says: “we’ll watch the smoke pour out the doors, bring marshmallows, we’ll make s'mores”, backing up this intent). Despite the fact that he is willing to kill her, J.D. is still shocked and despairing over the fact that she is now “dead.” This is because J.D.’s main motivation throughout the musical is control. Throughout his life, he has had nothing that he could attach to and just own. (If a 7-11 is your only comfort zone, then there has to be an issue) If he had killed Veronica, it wouldn’t have been nearly as big a problem, because he had control over her life until the end.

Lyric: I’m gonna count to three
Annotation:
Before this song, JD has been composed in the way he manipulated Veronica (“Ich Luge” bullets, etc.) He still attempts to do that, but finds himself struggling due to the fact that he as spun out of control and is close to losing the only person he has control over in his life. As opposed to what he previously said, “can we not fight anymore”, which would imply that they were equal, “I’m going to count to three” is something a superior might say to a child behaving badly to try to get them to cooperate, just like “don’t make me come in there”. It suggests some form of punishment if she does not listen and obey him. It also puts the blame on Veronica because it makes it out it that SHE is doing something wrong and he is doing it right and she should listen to him.

Lyric: You left me and I fell apart
 I punched the wall and cried
Annotation:
Even if this is a truthful statement, it is still extremely abusive to say. J.D. has obviously been manipulative up to this point, and this line shows nothing that’s any different. His original methods were, “I can fix all of your problems if you stay with me.” In “Our Love is God,” however he has detected that the situation is more desperate. He is uncomfortable with the idea of not being in control, so he attempts to pin it on Veronica (“YOU left me…”) to both allow himself to feel no remorse for what caused her to leave and to guilt trip Veronica. This is also a sign of emotional blackmail, an example of the self-punisher’s threat, ie, “Eat the food I cooked for you or I’ll hurt myself.”

Lyric: But I can set you free
Annotation:
J.D. consistently shows very narcissistic and manipulative behavior, which is likely due to his psychopathic tendencies. By saying, “I can set you free.” he is doing the same thing as when he says, “our love is God.” He is assuming that his plan will fix everything that has gone wrong in his desperation for control. Not only does he think that blowing up the school will help his relationship with Veronica, he thinks that it will convince Veronica to “love” him again. He once more tries to exploit Veronica. Can we all just address the irony? He wants to set her free from society/having a conventional conscience by controlling her. She (and Martha) are the only non sheeplike students as they don’t sign the petition. They are aware of/free from JD’s control. Additionally, Veronica was the one to set J.D. free from his internal hell- his numb and stunted personality. To cope with this, J.D. therefore needs their love to be reciprocal in that sense- so he is less isolated. The guise of codependency must be maintained in his mind so that he can justify his actions—in the name of their love (synonymous with God at this point as they’ve put their faith and based decisions on it).

Lyric: Pkhw, pkhw, pkhw
Annotation:
The way that J.D. sings is very upbeat and almost joking. In this situation, he is almost making fun of how he is going to blow up a high school. This really speaks to J.D.’s mental state and his typical lack of respect or empathy towards societal rules and constructs. Even ones simple as, “Killing people is a serious thing. Don’t do that.”

Lyric: I was meant to be yours
Annotation:
The chorus has a similar tune to  “Yo Girl”, as the song goes on J.D gets louder and a bit more possessive but trying to keep his sanity together and don’t scare off Veronica. This line also shows how much J.D. is unstable. He went from psychotic—talking about bombing the school, and then talking about their love, and his tune changed from violent to innocent.

Lyric: You were meant to be mine
 I am all that you need
 You carved open my heart
 Can’t just leave me to bleed
Annotation:
At this point in the song, J.D. is singing so powerfully…almost screaming, which makes it a very intense moment for the listener. At this point J.D. also switches the possessive. Whereas before he was implying that he was giving himself to Veronica, that he was /her/ property, now he claims her and uses more typically emotionally abusive language. He asserts himself as the only important person in Veronica’s life, the only one she needs, before blaming her for his emotional state. The violent imagery used not only implies that Veronica is as much of a killer as he is, but also blames the victim, Veronica, for being the trigger to his psychotic break. The intensity with which he screams this is meant to emphasize the importance of the words themselves. They summarize J.D. and Veronica’s entire relationship.

Lyric: Veronica, I brought you a snack
Annotation:
This line calls back to Heather Chandler’s jibe in  “Candy Store,” in which she stated that “If you lack the balls, you can go play dolls / Let your mommy fix you a snack.” This call back is most likely made made because Veronica has separated herself from the Heathers and their “Candy Store.” In other words, she’s gotten into some deep trouble and life isn’t all rum and coke and money. Even in the dangerous place Veronica’s placed herself in, she can’t be free from the high school idea that she’s become a loser.

Lyric: Bring marshmallows, we’ll make s’mores
 We can smile and cuddle while the fire roars
Annotation:
This line references an iconic scene from the movie in which, upon discovering that Veronica has ‘hanged herself’ in her room, J.D starts reminiscing about the things they could have done together. This verse also recalls Veronica’s earlier line in  “Beautiful”: Fight the urge to strike a match and send this dump ablaze!

Lyric: Veronica, open the, open the door, please
Annotation:
This first ‘Veronica’ is screamed with extreme intensity that shows us that J.D. has really lost it. It is followed with him practically whispering ‘open the-open the door, please.’ Which makes this line all the more chilling. It’s as though the reason that he screams at first is because of his sociopathic nature but then he notices that might scare Veronica off so he begins to whisper– as though speaking to an injured animal or frightened child–to seem calmer and even adds a ‘please’ for an “I’m actually a pretty nice person” effect. This is worse than an insincere smile; falling for J.D.’s gentle tone of voice could quite literally and immediately get Veronica killed. Upon entering this line, JD begins to follow the unnerving melody of  “Yo Girl”. It’s a technique used to remind the audience of the danger previously evoked by J.D. presence and causes the listener to distrust him even though he seems to be showing much more vulnerability. It also heightens the tension as we all know what happened the last time we heard this melody (“TOO LATE, He got in.”)

Lyric: Don’t give up on me now
 Finish what we’ve begun
Annotation:
This connects to Veronica’s line in  “Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)” “No one here deserves to die/Except for me and the monster I’ve created”. In many ways Veronica was the trigger that caused JD to finally snap, and they’re both aware of it. They mirror the idea that they started this together, but while JD doesn’t want Veronica to ‘give up on him’ Veronica is willing to do whatever it takes to stop him. It also brings us back to earlier in the musical when Veronica tried to change JD for the better.

Lyric: Then I found you changed my heart
Annotation:
This line, one of many in the show, supports the idea that J.D. stopped putting his trust in numbness, detachment, and denial–represented by 7/11 and slushies–and put it in passion, love and feeling—represented by Veronica.

Lyric: We, the students of Westerberg High, will die
 Our burned 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 also gives us a peek into how cynical JD is and really what he thinks about society.

Lyric: [J.D. & STUDENTS]
 Please don’t leave me alone (Ooh)
 You were all I could trust (Ooh)
 I can’t do this alone (Ooh)
 
 [J.D. & STUDENTS]
 Still, I will if I must
Annotation:
J.D. did admit to having suicidal thoughts in  “Freeze Your Brain”so it could be him finally giving in to the voice in his head now that Veronica, the person he started killing for, is ‘dead’.  So it’s possible that by ‘this’, he means continuing to live. He can’t live without Veronica. Like, ‘I can’t live without you so I’ll still do this crazy plan but commit suicide’. JD earlier said 7-11 was  “all he could trust”, and so now we see that J.D. has finally let his walls down with Veronica and now feels completely alone. While his initial reaction is soft and vulnerable, lulling the audience into thinking he’s going to give up, the huge, loud “STILL I WILL IF I MUST” shocks the audience and shows that its only further solidified his conviction to go through with his plan. This line could also be pointing to the fact that Veronica was just an excuse for him to do it, and it wasn’t all ‘for’ her like he told her it was. He was gonna do that anyway, but the obsession/attachment to Veronica catapulted him further into his process. “Oh! My girlfriend’s dead…I thought I would feel worse about that. Now onto death and destruction!”

Lyric: What if high school went away instead?
 Those assholes are the key
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. Such mania may evidence a degree of  psychosis.

Lyric: [J.D. opens the closet to reveal VERONICA has hung herself with a bedsheet]
Annotation:
At this point, JD breaks into Veronica’s closet to find her hung by a bedsheet. This part is very cleverly lit (in the 2014 Off-Broadway Production): all of the blue light fades out, showing that Veronica’s life has ‘come to an end’  and leaving all black—J.D'.s color. This symbolises that he has won; it’s over. That is, until we learn the truth.

Lyric: You chucked me out like I was trash
 For that, you should be dead
Annotation:
This is only one of many abusive traits J.D. gives off. Threats are a common element in abusive relationships and are used as an attempt to control the victim, in this case, Veronica, and coerce them to stay with the aggressor, usually out of fear. It usually goes along the lines of “If you leave, I’ll kill myself” or, more fitting in this scenario, “If you leave, I’ll kill  you” This is mostly a reference to the fact that J.D. has almost a list of people he wants to kill (Kurt and Ram, Heather Duke) saying that ‘you should be on my list…’ It’s cute that J.D. phrases his threat in a way that almost sounds charitable. “You should be dead! …But I’m too nice, and patient, and understanding to kill you. I’ll give you another chance.” Yes, this is another abuse tactic. Specifically, it’s a variation on “I’m a nice guy, so you should be with me!”

