Jesus Save Me From Religiosity

Lately, I’ve developed a renewed appreciation for Jethro Tull – a band hailing back to my drug-crazed youth. Back then, I never actually heard the words, just loved the music. While some lyrics are certainly cynical, two songs in particular call out to me right now – My God and Hymn 43. Below are the transcribed words and video of each. In the case of the live performance of My God, the differences between the recorded version and live version are in italics and brackets. The live version of Hymn 43 is a remarkable (in my opinion) remake of the original by Tull and I hope you like it as well.

Enjoy – I certainly do.

MY GOD

People, what have you done,
locked him in his golden cage? Golden cage.
Made him bend to your religion,
him resurrected from the grave. From the grave.

He is the God of nothing
[which is] if that’s all that you can see.
You are the God of everything
he’s inside you and me.

So lean upon him gently and dont call on him to save
you from your social graces and the sins you used to waive.
[The Jew, Christian and Muslim is waiting to be free.
They claim he’s a part of them and so he’s part of me.]

The bloody church of england,
in chains of history,
requests your earthly presence
at the vicarage for tea.

And the graven image, you-know-who,
with his plastic crucifix, he’s got him fixed.
Confuses me as to who and where and why
– as to how he gets his kicks.

Confessing to the endless sin;
the endless whining sounds.
You’ll be praying till next thursday
to All the gods that you can count.

HYMN 43

Oh father high in heaven — smile down upon your son
Whose busy with his money games — his women and his gun.
Oh jesus save me!

And the unsung western hero killed an indian or three
And made his name in hollywood
To set the white man free.
Oh jesus save me!

If jesus saves — well, hed better save himself
From the gory glory seekers who use his name in death.
Oh jesus save me!

I saw him in the city and on the mountains of the moon —
His cross was rather bloody —
He could hardly roll his stone.
Oh jesus save me!

WELL, HELLO! YOU’RE HERE.

That's too bad - I'm so sorry. Oh, well, just try to make the best of it. What you'll find here is a variety of essays and ramblings to do with things theological, social, whimsical and, sometimes, all three. I don't write to get famous - trust me, I've been told how futile that would be - but to express myself. I love to communicate and browbeat - ummm, I mean dialogue - about the things I find intriguing. Since you're here, and the door's locked, why don't you stay a while. There's a page bar under the header with links to information about us - I mean me. Don't forget to tell me what you think - in a nice way, I mean.