Amanda Burchett

mandymull82:

sutzrainbow:

Been a while, hasn’t it? I present my fansong for Babylon 5, the amazing episode Passing through Gethsemane, and it’s equally amazing main character, Brother Edward. This character made me weep, and it was him that cemented Brad Dourif as one of my favourite actors. Of course I knew about him before I saw the episode, but I was used to being on high alert whenever he showed up, because of how many times he’d been cast as villains. And he can be so scary when he wants to be. Here, he plays a kindly, innocent monk who discovers he was once a serial killer who suffered amnesia, and his demeanour is so different that I almost didn’t recognise him.

Edward is a delight. He’s so warm and kind; it’s like an aura that flows off him. But he isn’t saccharine; he has his sassier moments too, and I think that’s what makes him so lovable. He’s the kind of person I’d like to be friends with. And he goes through hell in this episode when he starts remembering who he once was.

I’m one of those people that tries hard to please everybody. I tend to go on a massive guilt trip if I so much as hurt someone’s feelings. Now imagine being that sort of person and discovering not only everything you thought you knew about yourself was false, but in your previous life not only did you hurt people, you killed people, and put them and their families through unbelievable pain and suffering.

Quite frankly, I’m surprised Edward didn’t have a brain aneurysm from the stress of finding out all that.

But what’s amazing about him is that he doesn’t slide backwards into the serial killer personality. He takes responsibility for the crimes of his former life and allows the families of his victims to carry out their own version of justice. He doesn’t fight them. His ultimate fate is both inspiring and beautifully tragic.

Kyrie eleison is a Greek phrase commonly used in Catholic prayer, which means ‘Lord, have mercy’. One of Edward’s anxieties in the episode is that he can’t atone for his sins and confess them because he can’t remember them (though apparently there actually is a prayer for something like that, as it’s a common and practical problem.) Personally I interpret Edward and his previous identity Charlie (another serial killer called Charles, Brad, what the heck?) as completely different people. Thus, the song is about how the people who knew Edward would remember him as only Edward, and wherever his spirit ended up, here’s hoping it was the best part of him.

Yes, that is me hitting a top ‘A’ in the final seconds. God that took forever to get right. I would love to sing this to Brad Dourif himself one day, though considering he played this part over twenty years ago, I’d be quite surprised if he remembered much about it.

Lyrics:

Face pale in the starshine
Lifeless, still and silent
The cold and dark and mystery of space awaits
I know you’d say “Don’t shed a tear,
“For nothing of value was lost here.”
But the rest of us know better.
There’s a hole that’s left for ever.
Oh, I wonder what you’ll find there?
And I hope it’s what you seek.
The person that I grieve is not the fiend.
And that’s all I know.

Kyrie, kyrie, kyrie eleison.

Oh, I hope what survived was the best of you;
The one with the courage to face the truth,
However painful knowing that truth might be.
Like a Roman god with two sides,
Two different faces, two lives.
The person that we mourn,
He was made, he wasn’t born,
But there was a kindness in his manner,
And a warmth only he’d show.
The person that we grieve was not a fiend,
And that’s all I know.

Kyrie, kyrie, kyrie eleison.

In the lingering injustice of your fate,
How I wish we hadn’t come too late.
But as you slipped away, I hope you knew
That the vicious cycle ends right here.
There will be no more violence that you feared,
And the man that we’ll remember
Was our friend and not the monster.
Oh, I wonder who will greet you there?
I hope you didn’t die in despair.
The legacy you’ll leave is not of the fiend,
Because that life is gone.

Kyrie, kyrie, kyrie eleison.

Babylon 5, Passing Through Gethsemane and the character of Brother Edward is © J Michael Stravinsky.

“Kyrie Eleison” lyrics & music © Susanna Bennison 2018

Reblogging this song again because I’m obsessed with it! :D <333

Still obsessed with it! You have an amazing voice!

sutzrainbow:

Been a while, hasn’t it? I present my fansong for Babylon 5, the amazing episode Passing through Gethsemane, and it’s equally amazing main character, Brother Edward. This character made me weep, and it was him that cemented Brad Dourif as one of my favourite actors. Of course I knew about him before I saw the episode, but I was used to being on high alert whenever he showed up, because of how many times he’d been cast as villains. And he can be so scary when he wants to be. Here, he plays a kindly, innocent monk who discovers he was once a serial killer who suffered amnesia, and his demeanour is so different that I almost didn’t recognise him.

Edward is a delight. He’s so warm and kind; it’s like an aura that flows off him. But he isn’t saccharine; he has his sassier moments too, and I think that’s what makes him so lovable. He’s the kind of person I’d like to be friends with. And he goes through hell in this episode when he starts remembering who he once was.

I’m one of those people that tries hard to please everybody. I tend to go on a massive guilt trip if I so much as hurt someone’s feelings. Now imagine being that sort of person and discovering not only everything you thought you knew about yourself was false, but in your previous life not only did you hurt people, you killed people, and put them and their families through unbelievable pain and suffering.

Quite frankly, I’m surprised Edward didn’t have a brain aneurysm from the stress of finding out all that.

But what’s amazing about him is that he doesn’t slide backwards into the serial killer personality. He takes responsibility for the crimes of his former life and allows the families of his victims to carry out their own version of justice. He doesn’t fight them. His ultimate fate is both inspiring and beautifully tragic.

Kyrie eleison is a Greek phrase commonly used in Catholic prayer, which means ‘Lord, have mercy’. One of Edward’s anxieties in the episode is that he can’t atone for his sins and confess them because he can’t remember them (though apparently there actually is a prayer for something like that, as it’s a common and practical problem.) Personally I interpret Edward and his previous identity Charlie (another serial killer called Charles, Brad, what the heck?) as completely different people. Thus, the song is about how the people who knew Edward would remember him as only Edward, and wherever his spirit ended up, here’s hoping it was the best part of him.

Yes, that is me hitting a top ‘A’ in the final seconds. God that took forever to get right. I would love to sing this to Brad Dourif himself one day, though considering he played this part over twenty years ago, I’d be quite surprised if he remembered much about it.

Lyrics:

Face pale in the starshine
Lifeless, still and silent
The cold and dark and mystery of space awaits
I know you’d say “Don’t shed a tear,
“For nothing of value was lost here.”
But the rest of us know better.
There’s a hole that’s left for ever.
Oh, I wonder what you’ll find there?
And I hope it’s what you seek.
The person that I grieve is not the fiend.
And that’s all I know.

Kyrie, kyrie, kyrie eleison.

Oh, I hope what survived was the best of you;
The one with the courage to face the truth,
However painful knowing that truth might be.
Like a Roman god with two sides,
Two different faces, two lives.
The person that we mourn,
He was made, he wasn’t born,
But there was a kindness in his manner,
And a warmth only he’d show.
The person that we grieve was not a fiend,
And that’s all I know.

Kyrie, kyrie, kyrie eleison.

In the lingering injustice of your fate,
How I wish we hadn’t come too late.
But as you slipped away, I hope you knew
That the vicious cycle ends right here.
There will be no more violence that you feared,
And the man that we’ll remember
Was our friend and not the monster.
Oh, I wonder who will greet you there?
I hope you didn’t die in despair.
The legacy you’ll leave is not of the fiend,
Because that life is gone.

Kyrie, kyrie, kyrie eleison.

Babylon 5, Passing Through Gethsemane and the character of Brother Edward is © J Michael Stravinsky.

“Kyrie Eleison” lyrics & music © Susanna Bennison 2018

Reblogging this song again because I’m obsessed with it! :D <333