A Hard-Working Man and Brave

Today, a tribute to the carpenter who put the Good in Good Friday by the man who put the True in Troubador Woody Guthrie. The Woodman lets us know that the brave Jesus Christ was killed for telling the truth, and were he to show up today in New York City, things wouldn't be much different.



Jesus Christ was a man who traveled through the land
A hard-working man and brave
He said to the rich, "Give your money 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
He told them all the same
"Sell all of your jewelry and give it to the poor,"
And they laid Jesus Christ in His grave.

When Jesus come to town, all the working folks around
Believed what he did say
But the bankers and the preachers, they nailed Him on the cross,
And they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.

And the people held their breath when they heard about his death
Everybody wondered why
It was the big landlord and the soldiers that they hired
To nail Jesus Christ in the sky

This song was written in New York City
Of rich man, preacher, and slave
If Jesus was to preach what He preached in Galilee,
They would lay poor Jesus in His grave.

In 1987, at the top of their game, U2 recorded a dynamite cover of "Jesus Christ" at Sun Studios for the Guthrie/Lead Belly tribute record Folkways: A Vision Shared. It's probably one of the most underrated tracks in the U2 catalog, and the entire album is well worth owning.


mp3: U2, "Jesus Christ"

Amazon.com: Folkways: A Vision Shared, $6.99