Judas Iscariot is known to all of the Gospels as one of the 12 apostles who betrayed Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver. His name has long been a household name and is associated with the word “traitor”. Despite this, in literature, music and other genres of art, Judas often appears in the image of Jesus' companion. For example, in the film “The Last Temptation of Christ”, directed by Martin Scorsese, the image of Judas is revealed from a new perspective: we see a devoted comrade and beloved disciple of Jesus. In the story of Leonid Andreev, he is also presented as the most faithful student, who is entrusted with a terrible mission - to betray his teacher. Thus, the ambiguity of the motives of this person has always attracted interest. Can you believe Judah? The rapper Husky discusses this in his track “Judas”.
Among the pretense of pathos and simulated cynicism, the performer stands out for his honest gloom. His texts are not always replete with elaborate phrases, but in each of them lies a deep meaning. In the track “Judah,” Husky addresses the listener on behalf of Jesus: “Which of you will betray me?” And the listener acts here as Judas Iscariot. Both the one and the other are marginals and drug addicts who are hiding from contact with consumers of modern mass culture. But somehow it turns out that the eternal antagonists are created for each other.
The first verse and chorus
The track begins at the beginning of the day, typical of many party-goers: a hangover, someone else's hut, a taxi to the house with pretty shabby music in the background. In the morning, the hero smokes a cigarette with narcotic mixtures and treats the driver (usually a connoisseur of substances, because they help him work). And both of them come to condition, and the car is ready to join them at any time.
And yet, how did they get onto the biblical turn? Most likely, both of them are traitors to themselves. All that was good in a person who was not burdened with addiction was Jesus Christ, and his traitor is that double who starts from the heel every day. Both opposites - part of one whole - a person who split in two with the advent of narcotic trips. As you know, the psyche of a drug addict really undergoes cardinal changes. And so, a dialogue wakes up inside a bifurcated consciousness, where the lyrical hero asks rhetorical questions to all of his components. The heroin warmed up on a spoon (in slang - oblique) does not have time to cool down, and a person is already in a hurry to meet internal betrayal - he picks up a syringe and goes to his own crucifix.
This is only one version of what we heard, move on to the second.
Second Verse and Chorus
People stick - get addicted to drugs, as they say, "stick". Gazenvagen - neologism, meaning a smoked car. There are many such “ducks”, but they do not need the 10 commandments of the maralphages, because there is not a single drug addict who believes that he needs treatment. He simply replaced the natural stimulants of life (sex, career, self-affirmation, fame) with artificial ones. That is why ladies' games of seduction, which are always tied to primitive instincts, are alien to him.
Another metaphor for drug addiction is “flies in a glass of wine”. The insect is fully equated with a person, it is also attracted by sweetness and captive hidden trap. The insignificance of the “crown of creation" is not without reason expressed in comparison with an insect. Both Kafka and Dostoevsky resorted to the same technique. But it is to these "flies", as if to oracles, that the hero raises a serious question: "What will happen after me?" The reality distorted by substances, called "cartoons", new people will continue to drag without it. Usually the creator likes to talk about the imperishability of his manuscripts, but Husky is the opposite: he emphasizes the dubious importance of recognizing him as a legacy. There will be new songs, new names, and hardly his voice will continue to be heard from the mouth of animated characters.
Here a new meaning of the refrain appears. The author addresses his fans and ironically asks which of them will forget him and betray his memory? Who will doom him to the crucifix? This Judas is, perhaps, found in each of us, because often, obeying fashion, people throw their musical beliefs into the dustbin of history, meet new idols so as not to lag behind the age.
Third verse and chorus
Here, the author looks at himself through the eyes of many of his anti-fans, citing popular patterns of thinking. He reads, they say, only for the marginalized: profursetki (go hand in hand) and convicts (go on stages). Himself is breathing unevenly towards representatives of non-traditional orientation and is directly related to crime. To this he only shrugs: "I do not require understanding." He knows very well that the majority knows, is following the trend, so you should not expect people to be ready to understand what’s what, if it’s fashionable.
But why does Judas alone understand him? Here we can mention the third version of the meaning of the refrain. Many authors, as we mentioned in the introduction, wrote that without the betrayal of Judas, there would not have been a cult of Christ necessary to create a religion. How would he suffer for us all if no one sold him for 30 pieces of silver? So Jesus would have been lost among the poor preachers if he had not been crucified without guilt. And so he atoned for the sins of mankind, and the Jews were found guilty, and the poor meekly began to bear their cross, referring to the fact that Christ was even worse. On the basis of sacrifice a doctrine arose, uniting entire nations. And all thanks to Judah, because he lifted up the figure of a martyr above himself, and he himself became a scapegoat for dozens of generations of descendants. His share is no easier than that which the teacher accepted. Even worse: one got fame, the other a curse. Jesus knew this, foretelling treason in his ranks, so that everything that happened was planned from above. That is why Judas understood the mission much better than is commonly believed.
This follows from this understanding of the New Testament events: the author goes towards his Judas, kissing him. It was the novice’s kiss that was familiar to the Pharisees, so that they would know what Jesus looked like, whom to detain. The teacher takes his cup with treason. So the hero goes towards fate, allowing the inner traitor to complete what is destined. That is why, due to self-destruction and internal crucifixion, his work becomes a new sacred treatise for the same people who are doomed to slow suicide. This is a sacrifice in the name of creating a cult. Only in this way will they accept him in their circle and listen to him.
Perhaps the author is also hinting that the listener is waiting for the fate of Judas. For understanding and love of his works, for a different view of the world, the listener must pay with rejection in a society consuming an imposed, meaningless “chewing gum” in the form of music from the “Popular” section, a society accustomed to unification.
