Jesus Christ: Lyrics

Lyrics: Woody Guthrie, Music: Tune to Jesse James

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Jesus Christ was a man
   who traveled through the land
A hard working man and brave
He said to the rich,
   "Give your goods to the poor."
But they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.

Jesus was a man, a carpenter by hand
His followers true and brave
One dirty little coward called Judas Iscariot
Has laid Jesus Christ in his grave

He went to the preacher,
   he went to the sheriff,
Told them all the same;
Sell all of your jewelry
   and give it to the Poor,
But they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.

When Jesus came to town,
   all the working folks around,
Believed what he did say;
The bankers and the preachers
   they nailed him on a cross,
And they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.

The poor working people,
   they followed him around,
They sung and shouted gay;
Cops and the soldiers,
   they nailed him in the air,
And they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.

Well the people held their breath
   when they heard about his death,
And everybody wondered why;
It was the landlord
   and the soldiers that he hired.
That nailed Jesus Christ in the sky.

This song was written in New York City
Of rich men, preachers and slaves
But if Jesus was to preach
like he preached in Galillee,
They would lay Jesus Christ in his grave.

Of note:

Well, a sore topic for me, as a believing Christian. Jesus said much more than give your money to the poor. It was not his admonitions about money, but about his divinity, that cost him his life. He was executed for blasphemy. Unfortunately, Woody and Cisco would rather not address the question of was Jesus "a hard-working man and brave" or the son of God sent here for our salvation. Some of the working folks and some of the rich listened and heard, some of both groups clamored for his death. And of course, if Jesus were to preach today as he did then, he would be scolded as intolerant, branded a narrow-minded bigot, and asked to keep his divisive opinions to himself.

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