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[miko2]

Today's Song: The Rebel Jesus by Jackson Browne & the Chieftains

If you want an anti-Christmas commercialism song, there may be none better than the Jackson Browne-penned The Rebel Jesus, a song from a "heathen and a pagan" reminding people that Christ was not on the side of the wealthy and influential nor the well-to-do in his time but the poor, downtrodden and outcast... and he'd likely make the same choice today, for all that many of the wealthy in the Western World claim to be his disciples and celebrate his birth.

This is a sharply-written song that both celebrates the holiday and cuts to the heart of what Jesus actually stood for. No honest Christian could find fault with it, and yet few unbelievers would likely find fault either, given its sharp dilineation between what Jesus taught and the actions of his self-declared followers.

This song appeared on the 1991 Chieftains cd The Bells of Dublin. Since then it's been covered quite a few times. I have a cover by The Violets from a Christmas collection cd called It's Finally Christmas!. Kate & Anne McGarrigle (Kate is the mother of Rufus and Martha Wainwright) have covered it. There are several other covers available on iTunes. It is likely well on its way to becoming a Christmas classic, and deservedly so. Again, I have no video to link to, but here are the lyrics for the song:

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
Will be gathering around their hearths and tables
Giving thanks for God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus

They call him by the "Prince Of Peace"
And they call him by "The Saviour"
And they pray to him upon the sea
And in every bold endeavour
And they fill his churches with their pride and gold
As their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worship in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus

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 sieze us
But if anyone of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus

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