My Easter Playlist

  Paul Newman as Cool Hand Luke sings Plastic Jesus
I’m putting my Spotify song list together for this Easter. Here are the ground rules: They have to be songs that mention Jesus, though not necessarily be about Jesus. They have to make direct reference to Jesus himself, not oblique references to Messiah or Lord (so, apologies to the Georges…Handel and Harrison). They have to be songs that I have really liked for a long time and not just songs I’m pulling off Google for the sake of this post. So, here goes… Suzanne, Leonard Cohen—I didn’t set out to rank these songs in order, but if I had this would’ve been the easy #1. It remains one of my 2-3 favorite songs of all time…sublimely beautiful and profound one verse to the next. And unlike that other Cohen masterpiece so badly abused by misuse and overuse, it retains its preciousness
And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them
But he himself was broken, long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him, and you want to travel blind
And you think you maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with her mind <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:"Times Roman"; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Times; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;}
Fire and Rain, James Taylor—I have mixed feelings about James Taylor…a little too sleepy for me in much of his work, but if he had never done anything more than write Fire and Rain, that would’ve been more than enough to gain my undying respect…just a sweet bit of biographical lyric writing striking a stunning balance between being evocatively detailed and elusively ellipticalWon't you look down upon me, JesusYou've got to help me make a stand
You've just got to see me through another day
My body's aching and my time is at hand
And I won't make it any other way

Levon, Bernie Taupin & Elton John---Well you never know, do you? Is the Jesus in this lyric simply a Bernie Taupin creation that riffs somewhat on the original Jesus story…or is it a retelling of the original Jesus story? Levon's sells cartoon balloons in townHis family business thrives
Jesus blows up balloons all day
Sits on the porch swing watching them fly
And Jesus, he wants to go to Venus
Leave Levon far behindTake a balloon and go sailing,While Levon, Levon slowly dies

I have a fondness for it because it reflects a Jesus take of my own from The Diary of Jesus H. Christ …that of a savior who’s pretty burnt out from playing savior, especially given the return on his original act of sacrifice:

Dear Diary,

            They’re starting to talk Second Coming around here again, and I’m getting a headache just thinking about my first coming. My side still hurts every time I laugh, and when the wind whistles through these holes in my hands and feet I sound like an ocarina.              “Jesus,” they’re saying, “the world’s going to hell in big, green Hefty bags, and we’ve got to do something about it.”              Yeah, sure, I say. We’ve got to do something about it all right.  Let’s deck Jesus out in human form and trot him on down there to do his sacrificial lamb thing again is more like it.             Well, not this time they don’t. I can think of better ways to spend Easter vacation (Helloooo, Cabo!). They can just get themselves another boy. There are plenty of others running around up here that’d jump at a second chance to save the world —Father Flannigan. Mother Teresa. Che. Michael Jackson (just a short hop, skip and a jump from King of Pop to King of Kings, wouldn't you say?). Break out the swaddling clothes for one of those semi-demi-gods, and let them go down and beat their head against the bloody wall for mankind. But not me — not this time — not for all the frankincense and myrrh in the world. -- JHC

Jesus Christ Superstar, Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber—Speaking of blasphemy…ha! Yes, a little bit blasphemy, a lot of campiness…maybe even a bit provocative, but definitely a whole lotta fun once you get pass the audaciousness. 
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ
Superstar
Do you think you're what they say you are? <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:"Times Roman"; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Georgia; panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Times; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;}

Jesus is Just all Right, Arthur Reynolds—Okay Jesus or not…Doobies or Byrds…just a great rockin’ song that does suitable honor to the savior, though it could be about anyone or anything made up of two syllables…pasta, Netflix, Merlot, Biden, Bardot… 

Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright, oh yeah
Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright 
I don't care what they may say
I don't care what they may do
I don't care what they may say
Jesus is just alright, oh yeah
Jesus is just alright The Rebel Jesus, Jackson Brown—A twofer…Easter and Christmas…one of the best Christmas songs ever with as good a Christian message as one could ever ask for: 

But pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgement
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a 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 Hello , Jeff Marx / Matthew E. Stone / Trey Parker / Bobby Lopez—Blasphemous, funny, hummable…and the opening song that perfectly kicks off the most kick ass musical of all time…roll over Oscar Hammerstein and give Richard Rogers the news...
Hello 
Did you know that Jesus lived here in the USA? 
You can read all about it now 
Hello
In this nifty book, it's free no, you don't have to pay 
Hello
Hello, my name is Elder Smith
And can I leave this book with you for you to just peruse?
Hello
Hello
Hello <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:"Times Roman"; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:"\0022georgia\0022"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:Cambria; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Times; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Times; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;}
Operator, William Spivery—What can I say? Revival pop…even our friends the atheists (Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, et al.) could not resist its toe tapping allure…Operator…informationGet me Jesus on the line

Spirit in the Sky, Norman Greenbaum—Norman Greenbaum joining a parade of Jewish songwriters in embracing Christianity...musically anyway...from Irving Berlin to Bob Dylan. None perhaps brought as much panache to the task as Greenbaum who turned Jesus into an object of psychedelic worship...kind of a Jesus in the sky with rainbows…Prepare yourself you know it's a must
Gotta have a friend in Jesus
So you know that when you die
He's gonna recommend you
To the spirit in the sky
Gonna recommend you
To the spirit in the skyPlastic Jesus, Ed Rush / George Cromarty—I don’t know that I ever heard Plastic Jesus on radio or the American Bandstand or on my own record player…none of the usual places where I got my music. I knew it first as a Catholic kids being naughty sing-along…and then ultimately as the keynote piece of music in Cool Hand Luke, a cinematic take on the Jesus story that is, to this day for me at least, the best movie messiah metaphor there’s ever been, as explained in the first Nobby Easter post ever:
I don't care if it rains or freezesLong as I've got my plastic Jesus
Ridin' on the dashboard of my carThrough my trials and tribulations
And my travels through the nation
With my plastic Jesus I'll go far
Update!
Sam Stone, John Prine--This a major D’oh! I sent the link to this post to friend Doug Fiske, who wrote back asking, what didn’t you like this one:
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.



On the one hand I’d been so intent in mourning the passing of the extraordinary John Prine  to coronavirus, and on the other hand I had been so very intent on putting out this blog post before Easter that never the twain did meet…until Doug’s email. Salvation, indeed.
Bonus And now in the interest of being fair and balanced, how about a song for the Antichrist?  It took Bob Dylan 50 years to write a song about the JFK assassination, but I didn’t think I could wait 50 years for him to write about our current national tragedy. (Sorry about the awkwardness of presenting this in two parts, but this blogger platform cannot handle videos of more than 100 MB.)
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