その昔日本でもＴＶ放映されていた英国国営放送ＢＢＣの人気コメディー番組『モンディ・パイソン』をオムニバスで映画化した『Meaning of Life』。カンヌ国際映画祭では審査員特別賞に輝いた秀逸なコメディー群のなかでも頂点ともいえる作品がこの『Every Sperm is Sacred』ではないでしょうか。この曲はなんと１９８３年に英国アカデミー賞の主題歌賞まで受賞してしまった一度聴いたら忘れられない名曲です。北アイルランド紛争でＩＲＡによる爆弾テロが多発していた時代に、このようなカトリックを中心とした異教徒を揶揄する作品を制作するパワーもものすごいが、この歌のあとにご丁寧にプロテスタントもしっかりと揶揄されている。いや、そもそも宗教に支配されている人間の営みそのもの『Meaning of Life』を皮肉っているのだろう。それにしても少女の歌唱力（とても子供が歌う歌詞とは思えませんが）や尼僧の踊りなどハリウッドチックなミュージカルとしての構成がまともだからこそ、おかしさがこみ上げてくると言えますね。過激な内容の歌詞ですが、実はカトリックの教えを忠実に提示しているのではないかとさて思えてきます。天皇や戦後処理など多くのタブーを抱えている日本に比べて英国にはタブーというものが存在しないのではないか、と当時英国人のグループとプロジェクトを担当していた私はその国民性に畏敬の念さえ覚えたのでありました。
There are Jews in the world.
There are Buddhists.
There are Hindus and Mormons, and then
There are those that follow Mohammed, but
I've never been one of them.
I'm a Roman Catholic,
And have been since before I was born,
And the one thing they say about Catholics is:
They'll take you as soon as you're warm.
You don't have to be a six-footer.
You don't have to have a great brain.
You don't have to have any clothes on. You're
A Catholic the moment Dad came,
Because
Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great.
If a sperm is wasted,
God gets quite irate.
Let the heathen spill theirs
On the dusty ground.
God shall make them pay for
Each sperm that can't be found.
Every sperm is wanted.
Every sperm is good.
Every sperm is needed
In your neighbourhood.
Hindu, Taoist, Mormon,
Spill theirs just anywhere,
But God loves those who treat their
Semen with more care.
There are Jews in the world.
There are Buddhists.
There are Hindus and Mormons, and then
There are those that follow Mohammed, but
I've never been one of them.
I'm a Roman Catholic,
And have been since before I was born,
And the one thing they say about Catholics is:
They'll take you as soon as you're warm.
You don't have to be a six-footer.
You don't have to have a great brain.
You don't have to have any clothes on. You're
A Catholic the moment Dad came,
Because
Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great.
If a sperm is wasted,
God gets quite irate.
Let the heathen spill theirs
On the dusty ground.
God shall make them pay for
Each sperm that can't be found.
Every sperm is wanted.
Every sperm is good.
Every sperm is needed
In your neighbourhood.
Hindu, Taoist, Mormon,
Spill theirs just anywhere,
But God loves those who treat their
Semen with more care.
