Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1940
Jesus Christ (Woody Guthrie song)
Buy Jesus Christ (Woody Guthrie song) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'Jesus Christ'" is a song written in 1940 by Woody Guthrie. The song tells in eight verses what Jesus preached in his time, especially about the rich and the poor, and that he was killed by different groups who rejected his preaching ("they laid Jesus Christ in his grave"). The ninth verse says that Jesus would have been killed by modern capitalist society just as he was in his own time.[http://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Jesus_Christ.htm Woody Guthrie Lyrics] The song was partially sung and played on the piano by the Guthrie character in the 1976 biographical film 'Bound For Glory', set to the same tune as the folk ballad "Jesse James".
"I wrote this song looking out of a rooming house window in New York City in the winter of Nineteen and Forty. I thought I had to put down on paper how I felt about the rich folks and the poor ones."Woody Guthrie, quoted by Millard Lampell, liner notes for 'Bound For Glory: The Songs and Story of Woody Guthrie', FOLKWAYS FA 2481, 1956, p. 8.
Covers
The song was among others covered by Irish band U2, whose version appeared on the 1988 Guthrie tribute album 'Folkways: A Vision Shared'.
See also
* Jesus Christ in popular culture
References
Category:Woody Guthrie songs
Category:1940 songs
Category:Songs about Jesus
Category:Songs written by Woody Guthrie
Buy Jesus Christ (Woody Guthrie song) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1940