As a small boy, I had no idea this song was from a musical. It was part of the soundtrack of my childhood that had been provided by W.G.B.B. in our small kitchen in Lynbrook, where Mommy would comb my stubborn hair and send me off to West End. The singer had a soft, interesting voice that drew me in; the lyrics, about her love for a man, didn’t matter to me, and it NEVER occurred to me this song was written as a ballad sung by Mary Magdalene to Jesus of Nazareth. It was in the way her voice climbed to such a delightfully golden soprano, the crescendo of the chorus, that was so simply breathtaking. The singer, Helen Reddy, had had several songs in the morning soundtrack. Among them was Angie Baby, which was one of my mom’s favorite with which to sing along, since it was her name. But I Don’t Know How To Love Him, for certain, is the most beautiful of all of the songs sung to pitch perfection by Helen Reddy. There have been many versions of this song, most famously that sung by Yvonne Elliman who’d sung it in both the stage and screen productions of Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as the recent (and brilliant) version by Sara Bareilles. Helen’s, though, remains my gold standard.
From the historical writing archive. Original date: November 3, 2018. Recovered from local source material; editorial review is still in progress.
