“Tell me how much I mess this up!” says Nile Rodgers, before executing an irresistible guitar riff. It is the first lockdown of 2020. Andrew Lloyd Webber has challenged the Twittersphere to upload covers of his showtunes and Rodgers, former Chic guitarist, has taken the bait. After a few repetitions, he sings: “My mind is clearer now. At last, all too well, I can see where we all soon will be.”

The song is “Heaven on their Minds” from Jesus Christ Superstar, the second collaboration between Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice. A heady mix of driving rock and symphonic sweep, Superstar charts the last days of Jesus’s life in through-sung form. Though events closely match those depicted in the gospels, it caused considerable fuss on its release as a concept album in 1970. Many criticised the open questioning of Jesus’s divinity; others felt rock music was the wrong medium for a Passion play. (Anger reached its peak in 1973 when Catholic protestors petrol-bombed a Buenos Aires theatre set to stage a production.)

“Heaven on their Minds” was first released as a single in 1970, but gained little traction in the charts. Despite this, it has had an arguably more vibrant life off-stage than other singles from the album. During the 1970s, two starkly different cover versions emerged: one by blues singer Sam Taylor Jr and another by jazz royalty Buddy Rich. The latter was later adapted for a recording by the US Army Band, featuring a stratospheric trumpet solo from Dave Stahl. Several heavy metal covers have also surfaced (for a particularly grisly take, see Seattle-based headbangers Queensrÿche) as well as a delicate-spun, infinitely earnest interpretation from Italian jazz pianist Stefano Bollani.”