"I'll Be a Sunbeam" (also called "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam") is a popular children's Christian hymn composed by Nellie Talbot; it is sung to music composed in 1900 by Edwin O. Excell.
Due to its age, the hymn has entered the public domain in the United States. Published in Chicago by Excell as hymn number 137 in his Praises in 1905, the words and music were anthologized at least three more times in other hymnals before 1923. Virtually nothing is known about lyricist Nellie Talbot; attempts to search census records suggest that she may have been born in Missouri in 1874 and was living in Chicago in 1910, but these identifications are speculative.[1]
This song was parodied in 1987 as "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" by The Vaselines; shortly thereafter they renamed it "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam". The latter version was covered by Nirvana.
The hymn was also referenced in the lyrics of the song "Alibi" by Elvis Costello ("Maybe Jesus wants you for a sunbeam?").