Richard Ashcroft

One of the lines in Judas he says is based around fact. I was in New York City and I always found it intriguing that in the big coffee shop, just on Columbus Circle, just because it was so busy they would always ask your name so they could write it on the cup and I’m always intrigued by the power of any word and specifically names obviously.

There’s not been many Adolf Hitlers born post the Second World War and there’s also not been many Judases, perhaps none. It’s a name that’s been vilified, so when I was in this coffee shop I decided that I was going to order a latte, double shot and she said, ‘What’s your name?’ I said, ‘Judas,’ because it was packed and I wanted to see the reaction when she said, ‘Latte, double shot for Judas,’ which she did and it does and it causes this like, ‘Who on earth would be called that? You know, and it’s incredible that that word two thousand years later could still have such power and at the end in the chorus of Judas it goes into, all it says is ‘Let it go, let it go,’ because surely that is the message and that’s really the motivation for that song but it’s an example of where, this is reality, this is just a funny social experiment, you know.