“This Is Heaven” by Nick Jonas, Saturday, March 6, 2021
Chasing Happiness is a documentary telling the story of the ups and downs of the Jonas Brothers' career. Even though I was not a fan of the Disney Channel stars, CH was a telling human story about faith, family, and fame. Debuting in 2006, Kevin, Joe, and Nick took tween girl's hearts by storm. I was, however, within almost the right demographic to completely ignore the band's existence. While I was off at college listening to MGMT and Fleet Foxes, the Jonas Brothers meant a whole lot to the younger millennials. I say almost the perfect demographic because the band gave a lot of press to their Christian upbringing. Some of the Christian publications I read praised the young men as they wore their purity rings and kept a squeaky clean image. But there was a lot more to that story.
IF YOU TOLD ME THAT MY FATE WAS ON YOUR FINGERTIPS, THEN, I WOULDN'T BELIEVE YOU. Last week Nick Jonas hosted and performed two songs on Saturday Night Live. After being introduced by his older brother, Kevin, Nick premiered this late '80s/early '90s song, complete with a saxophone solo. Lyrically this is a love song for his wife, actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas; however, I found the use of religious imagery in this song fascinating and totally on brand of what my blog has become: processing religious trauma. One of the most powerful scenes in Chasing Happiness is when the brother go to visit their home in Wyckoff, New Jersey. The brothers' father was a minister in a small town Assembly's of God church. Their parents did everything they could to help the boys succeed in their musical career, which caused tension between the church and their minister. The brothers had a successful first album only to be dropped by their label, and to make matters worse the church fired their father and evicted them from their family home. The scene in the documentary shows that moment as pivotal in how each one of the brothers started to splinter with Christianity, even if it was still present in their careers.
Nick Jonas posing for Calvin Klein. |
Lyric Video:
Saturday Night Live Performance:
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