The Man Who Called Himself Jesus - Strawbs

Man Who Called Himself Jesus

He came into the shop and looked me straight between the eyes

And said «You know I’m Jesus», and I must have looked surprised

Because he said «Please don’t be hasty, no-one understands

But I’ve got a way to prove it» and he lifted up his hands

He was the man who called himself Jesus

For a minute I was speechless, then I looked into his face

With sufficient lines of sadness for the total human race

And I said «You must be joking» but he slowly shook his head

And said «That's what they all say, I might as well be dead»

He asked me if I knew a place where he could start to preach

I said «Well try a church or maybe Brighton beach»

And I was trying to be serious but he didn’t seem impressed

He said «You think I’m crazy, you’re just like all the rest»

I was really quite embarrassed, he was looking so sincere

So I said «I close the shop soon, won’t you come and have a beer»

Then he asked me if I meant it and he smiled a funny smile

And he said he’d rather like that and he hung arounds a while

On the way he stopped to pat little children’s heads

And he taught them one line prayers to say as they went off to their beds

But mostly they were frightened and they looked at him wide eyed

And when he said his name was Jesus, one girl even cried

In the pub I asked him if he’d tried to see the Pope

And he said although he’d thought about it there was really not a hope

Then he said he thought he’d better go, he had some work to do

He said he’d come and see me in about a week or two

Well after he had gone I thought of what he’d said

And all his funny actions they kept running through my head

And when I felt my mind was drowning in a sea of mud

It seemed his pint of beer had turned into a pint of blood