The Great Rip-Off ?

Jesus Christ …
and the great rip-off.

It was Judas,
that zealot of rebellion,
the policemen, the soldiers,
the politicians,
and them preachers of religion,
who put Jesus Christ in his grave.

Jesus Christ was a man
who traveled
throughout the land.
A hard working man,
wholly true and brave.
He said to the rich,
“Give your goods to the poor.”
So they laid
Jesus Christ in his grave.

Yes, Jesus was a man,
a carpenter by trade.
His followers
also true and brave.
He went to the preacher,
he went to the sheriff,
told them all the same,
“Sell all of your jewellery
and give it to the poor.”
So they laid Jesus Christ
in his grave.

When Jesus come to town,
all the working folks around
believed what he did say.
So the bankers,
and them preachers,
they nailed him on the cross,
and they laid Jesus Christ
in his grave.

The working people
followed him around
singing and shouting,
“The Messiah has come to town.
Emanuel himself is here.”
But the cops and the soldiers,
nailed him in the air.
Then they laid Jesus Christ
in his grave.

Well the people
held their breath
when they heard
about is his death.
Everybody wondered why.
It was the cops
and the soldiers
that the landlords hired
to nail Jesus Christ
up in the sky.

This song was made
in New York City,
of business men,
hustlers, and slaves.
If Jesus was to preach today
like he preached in Galilee,
they, or the C.I.A.,
would lay Jesus Christ
in his grave.

Yes, Jesus was a man,
and a carpenter by trade.
His followers true and brave.
A two faced double dealer,
called Judas Iscariot,
laid poor Jesus in his grave.

But he didn’t stay there long.
Just three days.
So you bankers and landlords,
you predatory priests
of many varied religions
who devour whole the souls
of innocent young children,
you politicians with your tax
deductible charitable foundations,
you cops, and you soldiers,
better stop your low down ways
and learn to righteously behave.

Salt upon the Earth,
or bitter toxin given birth?
Do yourself the favour,
get a wholesome taste
of that celestial flavour.
Keepin’ it sweet
with the ever lovin’ Saviour.
And He will raise you
from your grave.

To be wholly true,
to be be resolutely brave
the time is high,
in fact it’s nigh,
to start the journey.
To get absolutely
and radically saved.

~ David B. Redpath ripped
this song off Woody Guthrie 😎

“Nobody living can ever stop me
as I go walking that Freedom Highway.
Nobody living can ever make me turn back.
This land was made for you and me.”
~ Woody Guthrie

*Artwork ~ ‘Survey No.1’
by David B. Redpath © 2017

116 thoughts on “The Great Rip-Off ?”

  2. I am in awe at how you made this so current ….really if Jesus is alive and would preach the same he would have been put to jail anyway, or better yet in an assylum …but as you said in three days he will rise again…and in today’ s context it means hope…hope that one day there will end all this chaos.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks for dropping in, Mich 😎
      As mankind continues to trash this planet,
      & each other, I find great hope in the promise
      … God will restore the whole Earth, and
      give it to His children as an inheritance.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. Glad you liked this little piece of
      plagiarism, Denis. It’s my way of
      showing some artistic respect 😎
      It’s very true that children are our future.
      You who are on the road
      Must have a code that you can live by
      And so become yourself
      Because the past is just a good-bye.
      Teach your children well,
      Their father’s hell did slowly go by,
      And feed them on your dreams
      The one they pick, the one you’ll know by.
      Don’t you ever ask them why,
      if they told you, you will cry,
      So just look at them and sigh
      And know they love you.
      … Oop! I’ve gone and done it again.
      But then, I’ve always highly respected
      Crosby, Stills, Nash … and especially Young.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. I’m surprised King Herod the great and Antipas
        haven’t been brought into the story of Judas’s Betrayal.
        And what was the significance of Judas kissing HIM on the mouth.
        Was it the custom to do so, or something else?
        An X represents the kiss of life and the Y represents
        a snake in the grass’s forked tongue. X

        Liked by 2 people

      2. King Herod was a slumlord
        bought and sold by the Romans
        Antipas was martyred for evicting
        deceitful squatting demons
        Excuse mankind
        thinking he can kiss the sky
        only to find a black hole blind
        As his own DNA 🧬
        remains a total mystery 🙏😎

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I’ll leave you with the Stars (Powers)
        of silver screen and stage.
        ”All the world’s a stage
        and the People in it merely players”.
        Hebrews’ shows
        they must go on
        The stage is lit
        the play’s begun
        Then curtain calls
        through deafening Applause
        The first born Stars have WON. XXX

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you, Paul 🙏
      I’m sure Woody wood’ve appreciated
      your positive feedback too 😇
      I don’t think he wood’ve minded
      the occasional collaboration.
      (I think the word ‘collaboration’
      sounds nicer than ‘plagiarism’)😎

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  11. Well done, David, and very appropriate during this time of Christianity’s remembrance of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. I agree when you say, “If Jesus was to preach today / like he preached in Galilee, / they, or the C.I.A., / would lay Jesus Christ / in his grave.”

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Rosaliene 🙏
      Yes, the world system
      doesn’t like no revolution,
      Even though the Earth 🌎
      works best when spinning.

      With no evidence of collusion
      a fuller inquiry can only await
      to fully exonerate mans fate
      till after the resurrection 😇

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thank you most graciously, JT
      Those who are his
      . . . hear his word,
      without the doctrine of men,
      false religion,
      and distortions absurd ✌️
      But my heart breaks
      for those poor souls
      caught up in them 💔
      For the living truth
      brings true freedom 😎

      Like

      Reply

  17. NOW… Are these all the original words? Making alternate lyrics isn’t stealing, if you acknowledge the tune’s and original lyrics source. And clearing point out these words are your modifications—and what a good job, praise God!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Yea, like history will always repeat itself. On the end of the Semester already, and I can say that I’m loving college but hate it at the same time that I don’t have the time to post. I missed WordPress so much. 😁

        Liked by 1 person

  22. This is incredibly truthful message.
    Here’s a quote that fits the poem and the conversation:
    “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”
    ― Friedrich Nietzsche

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the quote, Charlie 🙏
      Nietzsche certainly knew how to cut
      diamond. A diamantaire extraordinaire.
      Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection,
      is a manifestly manifold multifaceted story.
      The word ‘Atonement’ (the action of making
      amends for a wrong or injury) for me is the
      key. “Father, forgive them for they know not
      what they are doing.”
      My reading of the Gospels (Good News)
      clearly states that Jesus took the full
      consequences of man’s failings himself
      upon the cross, and by receiving him, one
      is free of guilt & blame. Free to follow his
      love example. Free & clear of ulterior
      motives, and clear of selfishness
      self-seeking agendas.
      And free of the doctrines of fallible men.
      Much of what I read on social media is
      advice on how to rise above the madness
      of this world by creating and ascending
      to your own idyllic spiritual nirvana of self.
      I find the Bible to be quite different,
      with practical down to earth keys to dealing
      with the chaotic darkness we are currently
      living in. A bit of heavenly light can go a
      long way. Knowledge is power ✌️

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      6. Easy mistake to make 🤠

        SONG TO WOODY

        I’m out here a thousand miles
        from my home
        Walkin’ a road other men
        have gone down
        I’m seein’ your world
        of people and things
        Your paupers and peasants
        and princes and kings
        Hey, hey, Woody Guthrie,
        I wrote you a song
        ’Bout a funny ol’ world
        that’s a-comin’ along
        Seems sick an’ it’s hungry,
        it’s tired an’ it’s torn
        It looks like it’s a-dyin’
        an’ it’s hardly been born
        Hey, Woody Guthrie,
        but I know that you know
        All the things that I’m a-sayin’
        an’ a-many times more
        I’m a-singin’ you the song,
        but I can’t sing enough
        ’Cause there’s not many men
        that done the things that you’ve done
        Here’s to Cisco an’ Sonny
        an’ Leadbelly too
        An’ to all the good people
        that traveled with you
        Here’s to the hearts
        and the hands of the men
        That come with the dust
        and are gone with the wind
        I’m a-leavin’ tomorrow,
        but I could leave today
        Somewhere down the road someday
        The very last thing that I’d want to do
        Is to say I’ve been hittin’
        some hard travelin’ too

        ~ Bob Dylan

        Liked by 1 person

      7. “Soon After Midnight”
        I’m searching for phrases
        To sing your praises
        I need to tell someone
        It’s soon after midnight
        And my day has just begun
        A gal named Honey
        Took my money
        She was passing by
        It’s soon after midnight
        And the moon is in my eye
        My heart is cheerful
        It’s never fearful
        I’ve been down on the killing floors
        I’m in no great hurry
        I’m not afraid of your fury
        I’ve faced stronger walls than yours
        Charlotte’s a harlot
        Dresses in scarlet
        Mary dresses in green
        It’s soon after midnight
        And I’ve got a date with the fairy queen
        They chirp and they chatter
        What does it matter?
        They lie and they dine in their blood
        Two timing slim
        Who’s ever heard of him?
        I’ll drag his corpse through the mud
        It’s now or never
        More than ever
        When I met you I didn’t think you’d do
        It’s soon after midnight
        And I don’t want nobody but you
        ~Bob Dylan

        Liked by 1 person

      8. Well, there’s reasons for that,
        and reasons for this
        I can’t think of any just now,
        but I know they exist
        I’m sittin in the sun
        ’till my skin turns brown
        I just wanna say that hell’s
        my wife’s home town

        She can make you steal,
        make you rob
        Give you the hives,
        make you lose your job
        Make things bad,
        she can make things worse
        She got stuff more potent
        than a gypsy curse

        One of these days
        I’ll end up on the run
        I’m pretty sure
        she’ll make me kill someone
        I’m going inside,
        roll the shutters down
        I just wanna say that hell’s
        my wife’s home town

        Well, there’s plenty to remember,
        plenty to forget
        I still can remember the day we met
        I lost my reasons a-long ago
        My love for her is all I know

        State gone broke,
        the county’s dry
        Don’t be lookin’ at me
        with that evil eye
        Keep on walking,
        don’t be hanging around
        I’m tellin you again
        that hell’s my wife’s home town

        ~ Bob Dylan

        Liked by 1 person

  23. Powerful piece my friend. Powerful indeed. If Jesus could see what we have become, he would be disappointed. “WHAT I DO, YOU CAN DO AS WELL.”

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  28. Great stuff from you David… was Woodie Guthrie an activist? I never listened to his music. I remember listening to a long song by his son Arlo, “Alice’s Restaurant,” but that was 50 years ago. You’re a visual artist too I see. Keep up the good work.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Woody Guthrie was definitely a champion
      of the working class, but never a member
      of the Communist Party. It would’ve been
      most ironic if America’s foremost balladeer
      was also a card carrying “Red”. His anti
      capitalist views would’ve been forged having
      witnessed the social injustice in the south,
      and during the Dustbowl exodus. It was Woody’s
      social conscience that inspired Bob Dylan’s
      early protest folk writings.
      Thanks for the encouragement, Peter 😎

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  32. David… this doesn’t appear in the feed btw, had to visit to find it…
    wow. I love it. All true, and the world does need these very firm and clear reminders at times. I love that you don’t shy away from that.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  36. Pingback: The Great Rip-Off ? – Little Strings of Poetry

  37. Flashes me back to another viewpoint. I saw Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway. I had a moment of feeling sorry for Judas, especially when some of his lyrics included something like “You knew I was gonna do this.” I thought about my “former” Roman Catholic days and my Catechism, which stated that God knew all things– past, present and future. On that note I felt old Judas had a point.
    Art

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I also got to witness Jesus Christ
      Superstar on stage, back in the early
      70’s. I do recall being left with the
      impression that Judas was the star
      of the production. Big questions of
      motivations were being asked, and
      that’s fine. Judas is an enigma.
      Interestingly, Andrew Lloyd Webber,
      in his early years, was very active,
      composing, and musical directing,
      in the church scene. Along with his
      brother, Julian, and his father,
      William.

      Like

      Reply

      1. Early 70’s, huh? I think my wife and I and another couple went to NY either at the end of ’72 or early ’73. Right after I got out of the service. After which I didn’t cut my hair for 12 years. Peace, brother.
        Art

        Liked by 1 person

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