Jesus Christ Pose
Encyclopedia
"Jesus Christ Pose" is a song by the American rock
band Soundgarden
, released in 1991 as the first single from the band's third studio album, Badmotorfinger
(1991). The song was included on Soundgarden's 1997 greatest hits album, A-Sides
.
and music co-written by Cornell, drummer Matt Cameron
, bassist Ben Shepherd
, and guitarist Kim Thayil
. Some see the song as defining the "essence" of Soundgarden, as it is credited to all four band members. Cameron said, "As soon as I played this pattern everyone dove right in, and within an hour we had the guts of the song. The approach we took on this one was pure assault of the senses. Canadians dance to this song."
and is in 4/4 time. Regarding the song, Thayil said, "The song's groove reminds me of helicopter blades. I bent the strings at the beginning and end of the song."
) to portray themselves as being 'better' than others, or as 'martyrs'
. Cornell specifically mentioned Jane's Addiction
frontman Perry Farrell
as an influence on the song, explaining, "It became fashionable to be the sort of persecuted-deity guy." In an interview, Cornell explained the term "Jesus Christ Pose":
s "Stray Cat Blues" and "Into the Void
(Sealth)". Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in the United Kingdom
.
Greg Prato of Allmusic said, "In addition to Cornell's biting lyrics and vocals, the rest of the band helped fuel unquestionably one of Soundgarden's most vicious and venomous rockers. Breakneck guitar riffs do battle with sledgehammer drumming for most of the song's five minute and 50 seconds." Gina Arnold
of Entertainment Weekly
stated, "On songs like the cynical "Jesus Christ Pose"...Soundgarden sound a hell of a lot smarter than their peers, who seldom get beyond extolling booze, girls, and cars."
The song is featured on the soundtrack for the 1994 film, S.F.W.
"Jesus Christ Pose" is available as downloadable content for the Rock Band
series as a master track.
for "Jesus Christ Pose" was directed by Eric Zimmerman, who would later direct the music video for "Rusty Cage
". The video features the band members wandering around a desert interspersed with various images of crosses, cyborgs, a crucified girl, a crucified skeleton and even vegetables crucified in a human form. Thayil said, "A lot was chosen by the director Eric Zimmerman, and we checked it out and decided what we liked and didn't like." Cornell said, "It was a pretty unanimous decision by the band to have a woman being crucified in the video...As a visual, it's powerful and it's also challenging to people, because women basically have been persecuted since before recorded history, and it would almost make more sense than seeing a man on it." He also added, "There's upside down crosses and right-side up ones. But there's certainly no blatant direction as far as religious conviction in the video."
Thayil said that the video was one of the few Soundgarden videos the band was satisfied with. He stated that "on the "Jesus Christ Pose" video we did a lot of experimenting at different kinda fun, cool things. I guess it seems fun to me because I didn't end up getting disappointed by it." The video was released in October 1991.
decided to ban its corresponding music video in 1991—it has not been shown by the channel in its entirety since. Many listeners were outraged by the song and its video, perceiving it as anti-Christian. The band actually received death threats about it on a UK tour in the early 1990s.
Thayil on the "Jesus Christ Pose" music video and controversy:
Cornell stated:
" single and the compilation album Telephantasm
. A performance of the song is also included on the Motorvision
home video release.
performed a cover of "Jesus Christ Pose" on the band's 2003 EP, We Sing Sin. A cover of "Jesus Christ Pose" was done by the band The Dillinger Escape Plan
which was featured on the 2006 cover album, High Voltage!: A Brief History of Rock
, as well as the band's 2006 EP of cover songs, Plagiarism
.
12" Vinyl (UK)
12" Vinyl (UK), CD (UK), and 12" Vinyl (UK)
Promotional 7" Vinyl (US) and Promotional 12" Vinyl (US)
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* denotes an unordered list
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, released in 1991 as the first single from the band's third studio album, Badmotorfinger
Badmotorfinger
Badmotorfinger is the third studio album by the American grunge band Soundgarden, released on October 8, 1991 through A&M Records. After touring in support of its previous album, Louder Than Love , Soundgarden began the recording sessions for its next album with new bassist Ben Shepherd...
(1991). The song was included on Soundgarden's 1997 greatest hits album, A-Sides
A-Sides
A-Sides is a compilation album by the American rock band Soundgarden with songs spanning the band's thirteen year career. It was released on November 4, 1997 through A&M Records.-Overview:...
.
Origin and recording
"Jesus Christ Pose" features lyrics written by frontman Chris CornellChris Cornell
Chris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
and music co-written by Cornell, drummer Matt Cameron
Matt Cameron
Matthew David "Matt" Cameron is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the American rock bands Pearl Jam and Soundgarden...
, bassist Ben Shepherd
Ben Shepherd
Ben Shepherd is an American musician, two-time Grammy Award Winner best known for playing bass in the grunge band Soundgarden from 1990 until the band's 1997 break-up...
, and guitarist Kim Thayil
Kim Thayil
Kim Thayil is an American guitarist best known as the lead guitarist of the Seattle-based grunge band Soundgarden, which he cofounded with singer Chris Cornell and bassist Hiro Yamamoto in 1984...
. Some see the song as defining the "essence" of Soundgarden, as it is credited to all four band members. Cameron said, "As soon as I played this pattern everyone dove right in, and within an hour we had the guts of the song. The approach we took on this one was pure assault of the senses. Canadians dance to this song."
Composition
"Jesus Christ Pose" was performed in drop D tuningDrop D tuning
Drop D tuning, also known as DADGBE, is an alternate, or scordatura, form of guitar tuning — specifically, a dropped tuning — in which the lowest string is tuned down from the usual E of standard tuning by one whole step to D.- Uses of drop D tuning :In drop D the three bass strings...
and is in 4/4 time. Regarding the song, Thayil said, "The song's groove reminds me of helicopter blades. I bent the strings at the beginning and end of the song."
Lyrics
The band explained that the lyrics for "Jesus Christ Pose" concern the exploitation of religion for personal benefit. The song is a criticism of how public figures use religion (particularly the image of Jesus ChristJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
) to portray themselves as being 'better' than others, or as 'martyrs'
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
. Cornell specifically mentioned Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band's original line-up featured Perry Farrell , Dave Navarro , Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins . After breaking up in 1991, Jane's Addiction briefly reunited in 1997 and again in 2001, both times...
frontman Perry Farrell
Perry Farrell
Perry Farrell is the frontman for the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction. Farrell created the touring festival Lollapalooza as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction in 1991; it has since evolved into an annual destination festival. Farrell continues to produce Lollapalooza with partners William...
as an influence on the song, explaining, "It became fashionable to be the sort of persecuted-deity guy." In an interview, Cornell explained the term "Jesus Christ Pose":
You just see it a lot with really beautiful people, or famous people, exploiting that symbol as to imply that they're either a deity or persecuted somehow by their public. So it's pretty much a song that is nonreligious but expressing being irritated by seeing that. It's not that I would ever be offended by what someone would do with that symbol.
Release and reception
"Jesus Christ Pose" was released as a single in 1991 in various versions with the previously unreleased B-sideA-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
s "Stray Cat Blues" and "Into the Void
Into the Void (Black Sabbath song)
"Into the Void" is a song by Black Sabbath, released in 1971 on their album, Master of Reality. An early version of "Into the Void" called "Spanish Sid" was released on the deluxe edition of Master of Reality...
(Sealth)". Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Greg Prato of Allmusic said, "In addition to Cornell's biting lyrics and vocals, the rest of the band helped fuel unquestionably one of Soundgarden's most vicious and venomous rockers. Breakneck guitar riffs do battle with sledgehammer drumming for most of the song's five minute and 50 seconds." Gina Arnold
Gina arnold
Gina Arnold is a rock critic whose articles have appeared in Spin, Rolling Stone and various free weeklies.She grew up in Palo Alto, California...
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
stated, "On songs like the cynical "Jesus Christ Pose"...Soundgarden sound a hell of a lot smarter than their peers, who seldom get beyond extolling booze, girls, and cars."
The song is featured on the soundtrack for the 1994 film, S.F.W.
S.F.W.
S.F.W. is a 1994 film directed by Jefery Levy. It is based on a novel by Andrew Wellman, and stars Stephen Dorff, Jake Busey and Reese Witherspoon, in one of her first lead roles.-Plot:...
"Jesus Christ Pose" is available as downloadable content for the Rock Band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
series as a master track.
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Jesus Christ Pose" was directed by Eric Zimmerman, who would later direct the music video for "Rusty Cage
Rusty Cage
"Rusty Cage" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, "Rusty Cage" was released in 1992 as the third single from the band's third studio album, Badmotorfinger . The song became an instant hit and was released as a single in several different formats...
". The video features the band members wandering around a desert interspersed with various images of crosses, cyborgs, a crucified girl, a crucified skeleton and even vegetables crucified in a human form. Thayil said, "A lot was chosen by the director Eric Zimmerman, and we checked it out and decided what we liked and didn't like." Cornell said, "It was a pretty unanimous decision by the band to have a woman being crucified in the video...As a visual, it's powerful and it's also challenging to people, because women basically have been persecuted since before recorded history, and it would almost make more sense than seeing a man on it." He also added, "There's upside down crosses and right-side up ones. But there's certainly no blatant direction as far as religious conviction in the video."
Thayil said that the video was one of the few Soundgarden videos the band was satisfied with. He stated that "on the "Jesus Christ Pose" video we did a lot of experimenting at different kinda fun, cool things. I guess it seems fun to me because I didn't end up getting disappointed by it." The video was released in October 1991.
Controversy
"Jesus Christ Pose" garnered attention when MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
decided to ban its corresponding music video in 1991—it has not been shown by the channel in its entirety since. Many listeners were outraged by the song and its video, perceiving it as anti-Christian. The band actually received death threats about it on a UK tour in the early 1990s.
Thayil on the "Jesus Christ Pose" music video and controversy:
That was our first single off Badmotorfinger, but it never got any airplay because of the references to Jesus. And MTV wouldn't play the video because they didn't like the idea of a girl on the cross. There are no guitars in the video at all. There's not even a picture of a guitar in the video. It's like this hard, rock-fast, punk-metal video that has no instruments in the whole thing. And it's a six minute video!
Cornell stated:
The way [MTV's] programming works is like a commercial radio station, the shorter the video, the more videos they can play, and—they figured I guess that in the normal hours people watch videos they're not going to want to watch something for six minutes.
Live performances
A live performance of "Jesus Christ Pose" can be found on the "Black Hole SunBlack Hole Sun
"Black Hole Sun" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris finneran, "Black Hole Sun" was released in 1994 as the third single from the band's fourth studio album Superunknown . It is arguably the band's most recognizable and most popular song, and remains a well...
" single and the compilation album Telephantasm
Telephantasm
Telephantasm is a compilation album by the American grunge band Soundgarden. Featuring songs spanning the band's 13-year career, it was released on September 28, 2010 through A&M Records...
. A performance of the song is also included on the Motorvision
Motorvision
Motorvision is a home video by the American rock band Soundgarden. It was released on November 17, 1992.- Overview :It features eight songs performed live at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington on March 5, 1992 and March 6, 1992 during the Badmotorfinger tour. Allmusic gave it three out of...
home video release.
Cover versions
The Killing TreeThe Killing Tree
The Killing Tree was a post-hardcore band from Chicago, Illinois. They were another band of Tim McIlrath , and also contain a former guitarist from Rise Against, Todd Mohney....
performed a cover of "Jesus Christ Pose" on the band's 2003 EP, We Sing Sin. A cover of "Jesus Christ Pose" was done by the band The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American mathcore band from Morris Plains, New Jersey. The group originated in 1997 after the disbanding of Arcane, a hardcore punk trio consisting of Ben Weinman, Dimitri Minakakis, and Chris Pennie. The band's current line-up consists of guitarist Ben Weinman,...
which was featured on the 2006 cover album, High Voltage!: A Brief History of Rock
High Voltage!: A Brief History of Rock
High Voltage!: A Brief History of Rock is a Kerrang! covermount CD released on May 31, 2006, featuring many older rock songs, covered by newer rock artists.-Track listing:#"Start Today" - Fall Out Boy...
, as well as the band's 2006 EP of cover songs, Plagiarism
Plagiarism (EP)
-Personnel:* Ben Weinman – guitar, keyboards, producer, engineer* James Love - guitar * Liam Wilson – bass guitar* Greg Puciato – vocals...
.
Track listing
Promotional CD (US) and 12" Vinyl (UK)- "Jesus Christ Pose" (Matt CameronMatt CameronMatthew David "Matt" Cameron is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the American rock bands Pearl Jam and Soundgarden...
, Chris CornellChris CornellChris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
, Ben ShepherdBen ShepherdBen Shepherd is an American musician, two-time Grammy Award Winner best known for playing bass in the grunge band Soundgarden from 1990 until the band's 1997 break-up...
, Kim ThayilKim ThayilKim Thayil is an American guitarist best known as the lead guitarist of the Seattle-based grunge band Soundgarden, which he cofounded with singer Chris Cornell and bassist Hiro Yamamoto in 1984...
) – 5:51
12" Vinyl (UK)
- "Jesus Christ Pose" (Cameron, Cornell, Shepherd, Thayil) – 5:51
- "Stray Cat Blues" (Mick Jagger, Keith RichardsJagger/RichardsThe songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, known as Jagger/Richards , is a musical collaboration whose output has produced the majority of the catalogue of The Rolling Stones....
) – 4:46
12" Vinyl (UK), CD (UK), and 12" Vinyl (UK)
- "Jesus Christ Pose" (Cameron, Cornell, Shepherd, Thayil) – 5:51
- "Stray Cat Blues" (Jagger, Richards) – 4:46
- "Into the VoidInto the Void (Black Sabbath song)"Into the Void" is a song by Black Sabbath, released in 1971 on their album, Master of Reality. An early version of "Into the Void" called "Spanish Sid" was released on the deluxe edition of Master of Reality...
(Sealth)" (Chief SealthChief SeattleChief Seattle , was a Dkhw’Duw’Absh chief, also known as Sealth, Seathle, Seathl, or See-ahth. A prominent figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with David Swinson "Doc" Maynard. Seattle, Washington was named after him...
, Ozzy OsbourneOzzy OsbourneJohn Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
, Tony IommiTony IommiAnthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
, Geezer ButlerGeezer ButlerGeezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
, Bill Ward) – 6:37 - "Somewhere" (Shepherd) – 4:21
Promotional 7" Vinyl (US) and Promotional 12" Vinyl (US)
- "Jesus Christ Pose" (Cameron, Cornell, Shepherd, Thayil) – 5:51
- "Drawing Flies" (Cameron, Cornell) – 2:25
Chart positions
| Chart (1992) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
30 |
Accolades
The information regarding accolades attributed to "Jesus Christ Pose" is adapted in part from AcclaimedMusic.net.| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kerrang! Kerrang! Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper... |
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
"100 Greatest Singles of All Time" | 2002 | 95 |
| Kerrang! | United Kingdom | "666 Songs You Must Own (Grunge)" | 2004 | 2 |
| Q Q (magazine) Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology... |
United Kingdom | "The Ultimate Music Collection" | 2005 | * |
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|100 Greatest Rock Songs
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External links
- [ Review of "Jesus Christ Pose"] at Allmusic