Jesus Christ

Album: This Land Is Your Land: Asch Recordings Volume 1 (1961)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Woody Guthrie had a talent for taking historical events and turning them into thought-provoking songs. Here, he sings about how Jesus Christ stood up for the poor and downtrodden. Guthrie never had much money, stood up for the working man, and traveled the country spreading his message through his songs. While he was never associated with a specific religion, you can see why Guthrie felt an affinity with Jesus Christ. (Thanks to Anna Canoni at the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives. Read more in her full interview. Learn much more at the official Woody Guthrie website.)
  • Guthrie performed this at a 1949 concert in New Jersey that was recorded using wire, which is an obscure technique used in the '40s and '50s. These wire recordings were restored and released by the Woody Guthrie Archives as the album The Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949. This is the only known recording of Guthrie performing live.

Comments: 2

  • Ken from Philadelphia, PaThis song was used to great effect during the end credits of Michael Moore's documentary, "Capitalism, A Love Story".
  • Ken from Philadelphia, PaWhat a great song! So simple, so thought-provoking, and as meaningful in today's world as it was when it was written 70+ years ago. One doesn't need to do much parsing of the lyrics to see what Guthrie is saying: Jesus Christ's ministry (and, thus, by definition, Christianity) was all about helping and empowering the poorest of his people, and, when the rich and powerful realized this and, moreover, realized it was a threat to their own wealth, they saw to it that Jesus Christ was crucified. Given that we live in a time where the very richest among us exert enormous influence on our laws and lives, perhaps we would be smart to heed Guthrie's words before it is too late.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Mike Love of The Beach Boys

Mike Love of The Beach BoysSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse Pop

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse PopSong Writing

Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.

The Police

The PoliceFact or Fiction

Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.

Laura Nyro

Laura NyroSongwriting Legends

Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.