Muddy Jesus by Ian Moore
Jesus lived in a ramshackle shack
with a fat New Orleans junkie
Some say was born plain lucky
He'd cruise the streets of Juarez
In his low cut El Dorado
Divine command and oil slick hands
A brash and bold bravado
Mother Mary said your time has come
The river's wide but can be fought and won
For the very love of God and man
Jesus cross the Rio Grande
Jesus fell in step with a group
of high-powered Federales
Who set him down and formed their plan
through a haze of cold Tecates
Judas said now Jeez I know
you're prone to walk on water
But if you swim downstream
there's a better chance
that you'll make it across the border
Mother Mary said your time has come
The river's wide but can be fought and won
For the very love of God and man
Jesus cross the Rio Grande
Jesus made his run on a hot
and humid Friday night
But his vision was blinded
by the bright El Paso lights
He never saw the shot
That left him short of freedom's land
But the faithful they're still waiting
for the coming of their man
Mother Mary said your time has come
The river's wide but can be fought and won
For the very love of God and man
Jesus cross the Rio Grande
Ian Moore is a memory from my short drinking history. I used to see him play at the Continental Club down on South Congress Avenue in Austin. I would see him standing there before the show, just hanging out. Nobody around him and almost close enough to touch. I could have walked up to him and started a conversation, but I was a 'fraidy-cat. (I also missed out on meeting Lenny Kravitz once just because I was in my PJs. What is wrong with me?) I just admired him from afar and danced like a wild thing when he was singing.
A couple of years later when the song "Muddy Jesus" came out, I remember the little fundamentalist that still ran around in my head saying that Ian should be whipped with a Bible belt for being blasphemous, irreverent, sacrilegious, and five other bad things. The music lover in me was feeling the rhythm of the song move through my body. I think the music lover won. (I did not really want to mess up Ian's good looks by whipping him anyway.)
