Plastic Jesus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the novella by Poppy Z. Brite, see Plastic Jesus (novella).

"Plastic Jesus" is an American folk song.

Contents

[edit] Authorship

The authorship of the song has been historically attributed to either Ed Rush and George Cromarty or Ernie Marrs.

Ed Rush and George Cromarty wrote the song in 1957 and recorded it (as a humorous ad spoof) in 1962 as The Goldcoast Singers on World Pacific Records Here They Are! The Goldcoast Singers (wp-1806).[1]

Rush and Cromarty still receive royalty checks from the song and are listed as the authors by ASCAP[1] and by the song's publisher, EMI Music Publishing.

[edit] Publication

Ernie Marrs is sometimes credited as the songwriter due to the folk music magazine Sing Out! (Volume 14, issue number 2, page 40) crediting the lyrics and music to him.

[edit] Religious basis for parody

Ed Rush has stated that the inspiration for the song came from a religious radio broadcast from Del Rio, Texas in the 1940s that contained the line "...leaning on the arms of Jesus, wrapped in the bosom of the Lord..."[1]

Others trace the song further back to African-American spiritual roots.

[edit] Recordings and performances

Ernie Marrs, along with the "Marrs Family" (friends Kay Cothran and Bud Foote) recorded a version of Plastic Jesus in 1965 that was featured in the motion picture Cool Hand Luke (1967).[2]

In the film, Paul Newman also sings the song while playing a banjo.

The song was covered by the The Flaming Lips on their album Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993), though on the album the track is titled "*******".

It has also been covered by Billy Idol on the album Devil's Playground, The Levellers on their Fifteen Years EP, Mojo Nixon and Jello Biafra on the Prairie Home Invasion album, Jack Johnson at some of his gigs and on some bootlegs, Cowpunk band Jackass on their album "Plastic Jesus", and Rocky Votolato on his album A Brief History.

[edit] Additional verses

Over the years, the folk tradition of this song has grown.

Several additional, optional verses have been added to the song. Many folk lyrics refer to Jesus, but several other verses refer to Mary, Joseph, the Apostles, or the Devil.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Lyrics and interview attributed to Ed Rush
  2. ^ Cool Hand Luke at the Internet Movie Database
  3. ^ lyrics (along with additional folk lyrics) Attributed to Marrs

[edit] External links

Languages