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Banker And The Boss

from Pretty Simple by Jim Page

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    13 track solo acoustic. 4 panel wallet, inside photos. Cover & inside left photos by Elizabeth Carpenter, inside right at session in Doolin, Eire, by Katy Keenan. Back photo busking at Pike Place Market Street Fair 1972.

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about

The story of Jesus without the magic. No gods, no masters.

lyrics

Jesus came from the ghetto
with the rats and the crust of bread
went downtown with a big idea
came back with a price on his head

you’ve all heard the story
about the miracles and the king
but if you listen hard enough
you can hear the trap door swing

don’t let ‘em fool you
it was the banker and the boss
who took insurgent Jesus
and hung him on the cross

nobody cares about a ghetto kid
when he stays where the belong
but you go steppin’ out of line
somethin’s bound to go wrong

Jesus got smart one day
and he began to realize
you’ll never get anywhere in this world
unless you organize

so he went down town and started talkin’
and then he talked some more
he said it was the banker and the boss
keepin’ everybody poor

and people listened, yes they did
they liked what he had to say
how the poor would inherit the world
and the rich would have to pay

nobody cares about a ghetto kid
till the goe downtown
start agitatin’
then the word just gets around

they send out their soldiers
with their shiny silver blades
gonna take insurgent Jesus
gonna lay him in the shade

bring him in on charges
don’t matter if they stick
you can call it religion if you want to
but it was only politics

nobody cares about a ghetto kid
until the start to make some waves
then the law kicks in with a vengeance
you know, it’s always been that way

Jesus had a safe house
and he had his comrades too
but an infiltrator turned him in
just like they always do

and when they took him off in irons
you could hear his mother cry
they convicted him of high treason
and sentenced him to die

as they took him down
from that execution cross
they thought about what he said
about the banker and the boss

and they knew it was a long time
and a hard way to survive
and they knew that the big idea was the right idea
and they had to keep it alive

so when they told the story
they told it this way
that soldiers killed the bottle with the genie inside
but the genie got away

‘cause nobody cares about a ghetto kid
until it’s too late
then they gotta wash the blood off their hands
and get their story straight

but don’t let ‘em fool you
it was the banker and the boss
who took insurgent Jesus
and hung him on the cross

credits

from Pretty Simple, released January 23, 2020
Words and music copyright Jim Page, Whid Isle Music, BMI

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Jim Page Seattle, Washington

Named by Seattle Metropolitan Magazine as “One Of The 50 Most Influential Musicians In Seattle History.” Originally from California Page has called Seattle and the Pacific Northwest “home” since 1971. Songs covered by The Doobie Brothers, Christy Moore, Dick Gaughan, Michael Hedges, and Roy Bailey. Utah Phillips: “If you’re ever going to get the message, this is the messenger to get it from.” ... more

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