I have known these past months that Cory Monteith, the Canadian actor who plays Finn Hudson in the hit TV series Glee, had died unexpectedly from a drug overdose. The star quarterback of McKinley High whose singing captivated viewers all over the world was found dead in his room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia last July 17. Cory had just come from rehab and was due to announce his engagement to his leading lady in the show, Lea Michele, who plays Rachel Berry. He was only 31 years old.
Yet, it was still quite a jolt seeing the album simply titled Glee: The Quarterback, with Cory’s photo on the cover in stark black and white. This is how they present dead people. He is really gone and these songs mean goodbye. The EP with six cuts is Glee’s tribute to its departed star and is the soundtrack of the third episode of the show’s fifth season. The songs were carefully chosen to depict the pain the cast is surely feeling and the way those left behind are helping one another cope with the loss.
Seasons Of Love from the musical Rent; I’ll Stand By You, the big hit by The Pretenders redone by the magnificent Amber Riley; James Taylor’s Fire And Rain, which pop legend says is about the suicide of a friend; If I Die Young by The Band Perry, sang by Naya Rivera. Here lyrics like, “Maybe then you’ll hear the words I’ve been singing/ funny when you’re dead how people start listening,†speak so much about Cory’s tragic passing; Bruce Springsteen’s No Surrender, a brave moment in the CD by Mark Salling; and Make You Feel My Love, that rare Bob Dylan love song that was covered by Adele, has now become Lea’s goodbye message to Cory. It is very moving.
It was not intended as the tribute to Finn but the first two episodes of Glee’s Season 5, also had fans watching, listening to the songs and thinking of Cory. It was the first time that the show would be without Finn and there was no way anybody could not think about him. The music from those two shows was made up entirely of Beatles songs. And you know, how those Beatles songs are. They may be sweet or funny, soft or rocking, but in a strange way, they are always sad. They always seem to express the sentiments of a lost, much lamented time.
The plot centered on Rachel’s bid to play the lead in the musical Funny Girl on Broadway and taking the Kurt-Blaine relationship to a higher, more serious level. There were big musical numbers for Help, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Got To Get You Into My Life, A Hard Day’s Night and others. But the one that everybody was making much of was Yesterday. This was done as a solo by Lea, clad in a trench coat walking alone on the streets of New York. Nobody made any mention of Finn, but when Lea sang “Why he had to go I don’t know/ he wouldn’t say/ I said something wrong/ now I long for yesterday…†Cory, of course, came to mind.
Now, if you are indeed in the mood to also take mourning for Finn to a higher level on this feast of All Saints’ Day, you might want to check out Glee’s third Christmas Album. This one has Cory’s last Christmas recording. Also the last cut in the CD, his song was John Lennon’s Happy Christmas, War Is Over. I am sure Gleeks will also be reading perceived messages or indications that Finn had not long to be in this world when he sang this song. And take note, the carol that Lea got is the also sad I’ll Be Home For Christmas.
But not to forget, Finn and Rachel are not the only goodies going for this album. Remember that Glee hit it really big with its first two Christmas albums with the success of Amber’s version of Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, Chris Colfer and Darren Criss’ duet of Baby It’s Cold Outside, You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch by k.d. Lang and Matthew Morrison and The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year by the cast.
The Christmas Album Volume 3 has other goodies. Best of the lot is Heather Morris’ Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas featuring Jacob Artist, Chord Overstreet, Mark, Darren and Chris who really sounds gorgeous. Also included are Jingle Bell Rock by Chord; White Christmas by Darren and Chris; Silent Night by Naya; Joy To The World by Alex Newell; The First Noel by Melissa Benoist; Feliz Navidad by Kevin McHale and the Jewish holiday song, Oh Hanukkah, O Hanukkah by Jacob and Mark.
Glee has produced another happy package. It is just unfortunate that from now on, this music will always be tainted by sadness.
This year was also the time when the world said goodbye to other music greats like the Singing Rage Patty Page, pianist Van Cliburn, original Beatles member Tony Sheridan, award-winning music producer Phil Ramone, Woodstock veteran Richie Havens; singing sweetheart Deanna Durbin; original Disney Mouseketteer Annette Funicello, music and TV star Eydie Gorme and just last week, Oct. 27, punk and New Wave pioneer Lou Reed, formerly of the Velvet Underground.