take a sad song and make it better

The New York Times, April 7, 2006:
IN ANCIENT DOCUMENT, JUDAS, MINUS THE BETRAYAL
An early Christian manuscript, including the only known text of the Gospel of Judas, has surfaced after 1,700 years, and it portrays Judas Iscariot not as a betrayer of Jesus but as his favored disciple and willing collaborator.

How the world would be different if the Gospel of Judas had been found earlier:

After Bob Dylan performs a triumphant electric set at Manchester's Free Trade Hall in 1966, an appreciative fan calls out "Judas!" to show his respect for Dylan's iconoclastic ways. "Thank you," Dylan replies pleasantly, before launching into a well-mannered version of "Like a Rolling Stone."

Lacking any mystical meaning, the value of 30 pieces of silver is rated against the world's precious metal market, currently about $12.62 an ounce.

Fans discover that, when played backwards, an album by the folk group Judas Priest reveals subliminal life-affirming messages that cure depression.

In his famous painting of The Last Supper, Leonardo Da Vinci portrays Jesus winking at Judas about their plan. Some scholars believe this to reveal a homo-erotic nature to their relationship, which Da Vinci adamantly denies.

In 1970, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice compose the hit musical Jesus and Judas, Superstars, which depicts Jesus as a messy sports enthusiast and Judas as his uptight roommate.