It’s hard to miss the political message in this one. Ian Anderson didn’t bother with satire or subtext – this is one of his most openly political songs. He’s always used Jethro Tull as a means to express his feelings about England and her culture, but most often it was done in a humorous way or allegorical way. And Anderson has a lot to say, whether about the things he loves or the things that piss him off. What he loves is quiet English country living, the land, animals, tea, and community. What he loathes is organized religion in general and the Anglican one in particular, the unfairness of the class system and the idle ways of the upper castes, and the increasing industrialization that threatens to wipe out the pastoral green life of the farmer. Most of those feelings are in this song, clear as day, despite being quite short and simple. Maybe it’s my preexisting familiarity with the rest of the JTull catalog that makes the message so clear, but I suspect that even first-timers will get it. If the words be too subtle (they’re not), the anger comes through well enough in the music. It’s actually best placed within the context of the rest of the Aqualung album, where several other songs explore the same topics. Then again, those topics are all over every Jethro Tull album, in varying degrees of prominence. From: https://ladygarfunkel.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/hymn-43/
Our Father high in heaven
Smile down upon your son
Who's busy with his money games
Or his women and his gun
Oh, Jesus save me
And the unsung western hero
He killed an Indian or three
And then he made his name in Hollywood
To set the white man free
Oh, Jesus save me
If Jesus saves, well, he better save himself
From the gory glory seekers who use his name in death, aw!
Oh, Jesus save me
Well, I saw him in the city
And on the mountains of the moon, hey
His cross was rather bloody, oh
And he could hardly roll his stone
Oh, Jesus save me
