“The Rebel Jesus”
Link: "The Rebel Jesus".
If you’re sick of all the Xmas songs out there already… I mean not totally sick, just sick part of the time (it’s intermittant)
then check out this article on The Nation website.
Here are the lyrics to the Jackson Browne song featured:
Originally recorded by Browne for the brilliant 1991 Chieftains holiday
collaboration, The Bells of Dublin, "The Rebel Jesus" has taken on a
life of its own. Along the way, it has become the most welcome antidote
to the deadening dose of commercialism that Americans imbibe each year
between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
So let us begin the season with Browne’s wise words:
All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants’ windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
They’ll be gathering around the hearths and tales
Giving thanks for all god’s graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus
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Well they call him by the prince of peace
And they call him by the savior
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
As they fill his churches with their pride and gold
And their faith in him increases
But they’ve turned the nature that I worshipped in
From a temple to a robber’s den
In the words of the rebel Jesus
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We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why they are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus
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But please forgive me if I seem
To take the tone of judgment
For I’ve no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
We have need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus.
Just a reminder to all the good folks out there. Maybe if youve never heard it, you can implore your favorite radio DJ to spin the tune.
Let me know what you think… and what bone yo have to pick with hypocritical organized religion and even worse the secular goody-two-shoes mainstream who tralalala-lala this time of year.
What do u have to be merry about?
