A Skeptic’s Farewell: When Grief Becomes a Grand, Manipulative Spectacle
A critical look at the public’s excessive, almost religious mourning over a charismatic yet deeply flawed political figure.
There are certain songs that, upon hearing the first few bars, instantly transport you back to a specific moment in time—a unique intersection of pop culture, politics, and pure musical drama. For those of us who remember the vibrant, tumultuous late 1970s, David Essex’s urgent, compelling 1978 single, “Oh What A Circus,” is one such sonic landmark. A track born from the revolutionary fervor of the stage, it managed the remarkable feat of becoming a massive hit in its own right, utterly captivating the UK chart audience.
The single’s chart performance speaks volumes about its immediate impact. Released on Mercury Records, “Oh What A Circus” soared up the UK Singles Chart, ultimately peaking at a very strong Number 3. This marked a significant commercial success for Essex, demonstrating the enduring appeal of his distinct voice and persona, especially following a period where his solo sales had reportedly been declining. His position in the Top 5 solidifed his status as a major British entertainer, proving that his charisma translated perfectly from the West End stage to the radio airwaves. The single’s success was a testament not just to Essex’s performance, but to the masterful writing of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
The story behind the song is inseparable from the legendary musical, Evita. The song is taken directly from the 1976 concept album and the subsequent 1978 London stage production, where David Essex played the pivotal role of Che. In the context of the musical, Che is the cynical narrator, an Argentine everyman figure (often symbolically linked to revolutionary icon Che Guevara in early productions) who offers a running commentary and an acid-tongued critique of the main character, Eva Perón.
“Oh What A Circus” is sung immediately after Eva Perón’s death and subsequent ‘Requiem’, and it serves as a bitter, almost sarcastic counterpoint to the official, hysterical national grief. The track’s very meaning is a brutal dismantling of the public sainthood being immediately thrust upon Eva. The lyrics paint a picture of her funeral as a grotesque, overblown carnival—a “show,” a “circus”—implying that the mass mourning is not genuine sorrow but a staged spectacle, a bizarre national performance (“Argentina has gone to town / Over the death of an actress called Eva Perón“).
Musically, this dramatic contrast is achieved through a brilliant piece of compositional repurposing. “Oh What A Circus” is a contrafactum—it uses the exact same melody as the musical’s most famous and dramatically opposite ballad, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” but shifts the tempo entirely, delivering the tune at a faster, more agitated pace. This transformation from a soaring, reflective anthem to a sharp, cynical indictment perfectly underscores the dual perspectives on Eva Perón: the adoring masses versus the skeptical critic. The inclusion of the Latin choral chant, a fragment of the Catholic anthem “Salve Regina,” in the song’s middle section heightens the religious hysteria being satirized, questioning the almost god-like status bestowed upon ‘Santa Evita’ by her followers. Essex’s delivery is perfectly suited to the role of Che—laconic, brooding, and delivering the cutting lines with a perfect mix of irony and revolutionary weariness.
For those of us who listened to this song when it first hit the charts, it wasn’t just another pop hit; it was a potent slice of musical theatre that carried a weighty political and historical punch. It forced listeners to think about celebrity, power, and the unsettling manipulation of public emotion. It’s a song about the illusion of fame and the cold, harsh light of reality that sets in when the curtain finally comes down. It remains a thrilling, intelligent piece of pop-rock drama, a stark reminder that even amidst widespread grief, someone is always counting the ticket sales.