| "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" | ||||||||||
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| Song by The Vaselines from the album Dying for It | ||||||||||
| Released | 1987 | |||||||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||||||||
| Length | 3:31 | |||||||||
| Label | 53rd & 3rd | |||||||||
| Writer | Eugene Kelly, Frances McKee | |||||||||
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"Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" is a song originally recorded by Scottish alternative band The Vaselines for their EP Dying for it. It is a parody on the Christian children's hymn, "I'll Be a Sunbeam", which has the opening line "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam".
The song was a hit only in indie-pop and twee circles until in 1992, The Vaselines re-released the song with a slight title change ("Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam") on the compilation album The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History.
Nirvana released a cover of "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" on their live acoustic album MTV Unplugged in New York. Nirvana also released two more versions of this song on their 2004 box set With the Lights Out. This included an acoustic version recorded in Europe in 1994, along with a live electric performance on the DVD section of the box-set.
On the version contained on the MTV Unplugged in New York album, Kurt Cobain refers to the song as: "a rendition of an old Christian song, I think. But we do it the Vaselines' way."[1]