🐇🐣Easter-ish Songs🐰🌷

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For the past couple of years I have played some songs for Easter. I am not particularly religious but that doesn’t stop me recognising its significance: we were all brought up here learning the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and his subsequent resurrection. My stepmother is an ordained (now retired) priest in the Church of England, so I’m always reminded of what this weekend means, and I hope that those who celebrate it derive fulfilment from their faith. The songs I have played for this bear varying degrees of relevance to the event, from little to none, but they seemed to do down well and I’m giving it another go. As this is a long weekend I’m giving you a bumper edition to occupy your time: eight songs in all, four of which I’ve played before and four are new for me, either at Easter or any other time.

Let’s start with one of the return visitors:

It isn’t often that a song with overtly religious lyrics becomes a huge smash hit, but this one did. Norman Greenbaum began his musical career in 1967 as a member of Dr West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band, who had a minor US hit with a song he wrote, the strangely titled single The Eggplant That Ate Chicago, about an alien invasion. Spirit In The Sky was the title track of his first solo album, and was released as a single in December 1969 (the video has it wrong). It was #1 in the UK, Canada, Australia, and West Germany, and reached #3 in the US. He is the epitome of the classic one hit wonder syndrome, having never troubled the charts again here in the UK. It’s still a great and memorable riff, though.

I’ve played this next one before, too, but it is such a great song that I just have to share it again:

A thoughtful song, which asks some big questions. It was written by Eric Bazilian of The Hooters, who have featured here before, and it takes the approach of asking what it might be like if God was just like us, doing everyday things. It is an intriguing thought, and I’ve always enjoyed the song. Joan Osborne first released it as a single in February 1995, ahead of its album, Relish, the following month. These were her debut records, and they did well for her. The album peaked at #9 in the US and #5 in the UK, and the single reached #4 in the US and #6 in the UK, and topped the charts in both Australia and Canada. In case you were wondering the album version of the song, which is the one I’m playing here, starts off with the first four lines of a recording titled The Aeroplane Ride, made on October 27, 1937, by American folklorist Alan Lomax and his wife Elizabeth for the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress, with Mrs Nell Hampton of Salyersville, Kentucky, singing a variation of the 1928 John S. McConnell hymn Heavenly Aeroplane. (Thank you, Wikipedia!)

Now for some tunes making their debuts here. This is one I’ve always liked. Some of you may know the version done by the Doobie Brothers but I prefer the first one I knew:

Jesus Is Just Alright is actually a gospel song written by American singer Art Reynolds and first recorded by The Art Reynolds Singers, for their 1966 album, Tellin’ It Like It Is. It uses an American slang term “just alright,” which during the 1960s was used to describe something that was considered cool or hip. The Byrds version was on their eighth studio album, Ballad of Easy Rider, released in November 1969, reaching #36 in the US and #41 in the UK. The track then became a single in December 1969, but only got to #97 in the US and wasn’t a UK hit at all. That didn’t stop the Doobies from doing an almost identical copy of the song, which got them to #35 in the US in 1972. No justice, eh?

My next song is another for which I could have chosen either of two versions. I like the way Johnny Cash did it for his American IV album, but I’m going with the original:

Depeche Mode released Personal Jesus as a single in August 1989, and it reached #13 in the UK and #28 in the US. It was also included on their seventh album, Violator, which came out in March 1990, making #2 in the UK and #7 in the US, and to date selling more than 7.5m copies worldwide. The singer is offering to be the listener’s saviour and support, which might be deemed blasphemous by some, but it is a quirky little song that I’ve always liked.

Following on from that train of thought, here’s another that I’m betting the evangelicals hated:

Judas was a track on Lady Gaga’s second album, Born This Way, which was released in May 2011 and went to #1 just about everywhere, selling more than 4m copies in the US and 1m in the UK along the way. The track had been released the previous month as the second single from the album, and got to #10 in the US and #8 in the UK. As you will have seen, although the song itself isn’t specifically on a religious theme the video, which co-stars Norman Reedus, does have a Biblical storyline, where Reedus plays Judas Iscariot and Lady G plays Mary Magdalene. It portrays them as modern day missionaries going to Jerusalem. Before its release, the US Catholic League condemned her for the use of religious imagery and her role in the video. I said they wouldn’t like it, didn’t I!

Perhaps I should get back onto safer ground. My next two selections are both making a return visit, and both are tunes from a musical. Guess which one! My teenage years saw the early career of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and the musical shows they created. Their first big hit was Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in 1968, which was followed by Jesus Christ Superstar:

The show actually first saw the light of day in October 1970 as a double LP concept album, on which Murray Head sang the role of Judas Iscariot. He didn’t play it in either the 1971 Broadway or 1972 London productions of the show, though. The album was a huge success in North America, topping the charts in both Canada and the US, though it only reached #23 in the UK. Superstar was released as a single a year earlier, and peaked at #6 in Canada, #14 in the US, and #47 in the UK. In my memory it was a much bigger hit than that – funny how our memories play tricks on us, isn’t it? I’ve always thought this was a fantastic song, and this is my favourite version. There was much controversy over the show, which many saw as blasphemous and overly sympathetic to characters like Judas, but that doesn’t seem to have damaged it at the box office. It was produced in a number of other countries, too: in Sweden it played in 1972 and the role of Mary Magdalene was taken by a young woman called Agnetha Fältskog – I wonder what happened to her…

The other song from the show is up next.When it was first recorded the role of Mary Magdalene was taken by Yvonne Elliman, who then played the part in the 1973 movie version, from which this clip comes:

There have been a number of other versions of I Don’t Know How To Love Him, both in various theatrical performances and on record, but this is the first one I knew and I still think it is the best. Yvonne Elliman’s heartfelt vocal really brings out the quandary the character was in, with all of the feelings it engendered, and I think it is lovely. It was released as a single but didn’t do all that well: #28 in the US and #47 in the UK were, to my mind, poor returns. The other version you may know is the one by Helen Reddy, which got to #13 in the US but didn’t make the UK charts, thankfully. It comes a very poor second, to my ears!

In my two previous attempts at this I’ve finished with a clip from the Easter Parade movie and the crucifixion scene from Monty Python’s Life Of Brian (“always look on the…”). You can hardly get two more different songs than those, but I’ve decided to close this year with something different again. This isn’t in any way a religious song, nor does it relate to Easter, but I’m playing it for the sceptics among you:

I Don’t Believe In Miracles was written by Russ Ballard and was first recorded by Colin Blunstone, formerly of The Zombies, for his album Ennismore, which came out in November 1972. This track made #31 in the UK Singles chart at that time. America’s version was on their album Alibi, which was released in August 1980, but only reached #142 in the US, though it did make #2 in Italy after the band played there. Sorry, Colin, but I prefer Gerry Beckley’s voice to yours, which is why I’m playing this version.

That’s all for today, and I hope I’ve given you something to enjoy over the long weekend, even if the songs are at best only loosely related to Easter. Whether you celebrate Easter or not, and however it may be for you, I wish you a very

 

52 thoughts on “🐇🐣Easter-ish Songs🐰🌷”

  1. Pingback: That Was March | Take It Easy

  4. Great picks, Clive with somefavourites of mine..Spirit in the Sky is always a rouser and sticks in the brain for a while…Like Joseph so many have trod the boards in Jesus Christ Superstarand I don’t Know How to Love him always gets me… I had always loved Sarah Brightmans version but now I prefer Mel C’s …Happy Easter, Clive not something thats celebrated here I do miss the chocolate eggs though xx

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    • Thank you, Nancy, I’m pleased you liked them, and Happy Easter to you too. As tomorrow’s SLS theme, courtesy of your good self, is songs from a movie it’s going to be one of two, isn’t it! Both would be good selections. I’ve just done the first draft of mine – fortunately I went for a different movie 🤣

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      • Haha! Gotcha! I was referring to my personal Easter post, not my SLS post. I haven’t even started that one yet. Fortunately, I am not hosting Easter dinner this year so I have time today to dedicate to my …. ahem …. Jim’s challenge! 😂 🐣

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      • An easy mistake to make! And you’ve proved that you know at least two movies 🤣

        Hopefully whoever is hosting gives you a fine meal, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you play for both posts tomorrow. Hopefully we won’t have chosen the same movie!

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      • When someone is all over WP as I am, it is indeed an easy mistake! You really do crack me up, Clive! 🤣

        I just changed my aforementioned vid to the original version; still undecided which of the two movies I know to go with. lol

        Daughter-in-law is cooking so it’s anyone’s guess; I keep antacid in my purse for such occasions. 😂

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      • You are one of the very few who posts more than once a day that I keep individual post notifications for – just about all the rest go into a daily email. Whatever you play will be fine, I’m sure, as long as we haven’t gone for the same movie!

        Wise move on the antacid if her cooking is bad 🤣

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  6. Always like the Byrds and “I don’t know how to love him” is a powerful song. Enjoyed the video with the Miracles song and the song. Thanks for the selection and Happy Easter to you. Have a good weekend! 🙂

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    • Thanks, I’m glad you liked them. That one is difficult to get out of your head, isn’t it – it’s been in mine all day since I had the final run through before posting 🤣

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    • It’s a beautiful song, isn’t it, and I still think that is the best version – far better than Helen Reddy or Barbara Dickson! Happy Easter to you too – it’s an early one this year and for us it coincides with the start of British Summer Time. Must mean snow is on the way 🤣

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  9. Great choices with my favorite being Spirit in the Sky. However, being true to the child in me I have to say that my top Easter song has and always is Here Comes Peter Cottontail hoping down the Bunny Trail… Happy Easter!

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  10. Did Tom Waits ever gain popularity in Britain. Hopefully. This isn’t exactly an Easter song, but I’m sure the title will grab you by your earhairs. Hit “more…” for the lyrics. I saw him do it “live” on Peter Gzosky’s late night show on CBC TV.

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    • He’s not big here, but has sold steadily. I just looked up his record: 15 of his albums have made our top 100, for a combined total of 43 weeks. One spent a week at #9 and another a week at #10. A loyal following, I think. Thanks for the link – interesting song!

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    • I’m pleased you enjoyed them, Willow. I hadn’t heard of him, but as I don’t go for Christian music that probably isn’t a surprise. He sounds good, though the sentiment is a bit much for me!

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