"Jesus Was a Cross Maker" is a 1971 song by American singer-songwriter

Judee Sill Judith Lynne Sill (October 7, 1944 – November 23, 1979) was an American singer and songwriter. The first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum label, she released two albums on Asylum and partially completed a third album before dying of a d ...

from her eponymous debut album. It has subsequently been recorded by the likes of Cass Elliot,

The Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band ...

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician. Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", " Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Th ...

, and

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

Composition

Months after completing the recording sessions for her debut album, Sill was touring as an opening act and reeling from the end of a “dramatic affair” with fellow songwriter J. D. Souther.Lewis, Grover
“Judee Sill: Soldier of the Heart,”
''Rolling Stone'' 13 Apr. 1972.“The Lost Genius of Judee Sill,”
BBC Radio 4 13 Sep. 2014. She began composing "Jesus Was a Cross Maker" while reading the 1955

Nikos Kazantzakis Nikos Kazantzakis ( el, ; 2 March (Old Style and New Style dates, OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greeks, Greek writer. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in ni ...

novel '' The Last Temptation of Christ'', in which

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

is portrayed as a carpenter who builds wooden crosses for the Romans. “I was so excited when I was writin’ that song,” Sill said in 1972, “because it was not only the best thing I’d ever written, and I knew it, but it took the weight off my heart and turned it into somethin’ else, and I was able to forgive the guy for the horrible romantic bummer he'd put me on. And I gained a new kind of strength from it, from that combination of forgiveness and creation.” In a 2014 interview, Souther recalled his first time hearing the song. “She came over to my house at about seven or eight in the morning,” he said. “Pounded on the door, woke me up, came in, sat on my bed, and said, ‘This is for you,’ very sourly. Then she played it for me.”

Recording and release

The song was orchestrated by Don Bagley and Bob Harris and produced by

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...

, with a production designed for radio airplay. The last-minute addition of “Jesus Was a Cross Maker” to Sill's debut album necessitated the removal of two songs, “The Pearl” and “The Phoenix,” which later appeared on her 1973 album '' Heart Food''.

Other recordings

* Cass Elliot on her 1972 album '' Cass Elliot''. *

on their 1972 album '' Romany'' and on the 2006 soundtrack album '' Elizabethtown: Volume 1''. *

Judie Tzuke Judie Tzuke ( ; born Judie Myers, 3 April 1956) is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1979 hit " Stay with Me till Dawn", which reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. Life and career Early life Tzuke's family relocated ...

on her 1991 album ''

Left Hand Talking ''Left Hand Talking'' is the eighth studio album by the British singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke, released in 1991. Despite considerable promotion and featuring a re-recording of her best known song, " Stay with Me till Dawn", the album failed to ...

''. *

on his 1995 album '' Mutineer''. *

on her 1999 compilation album '' The Linda Ronstadt Box Set'' (as “Bandit & A Heart-Breaker”). * Rachael Yamagata on the 2006 soundtrack album '' Elizabethtown: Volume 2''. * Frida Hyvönen on the 2009 tribute album '' Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill''.

Legacy

The song received renewed attention after

Cameron Crowe Cameron Bruce Crowe (born July 13, 1957) is an American journalist, author, writer, producer, director, actor, lyricist, and playwright. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at '' Rolling Stone'' magazine, for w ...

featured

’ cover version in his 2005 film '' Elizabethtown''. Crowe has described the song as “the black-sheep stepbrother of ‘ Bridge over Troubled Water.’”Conniff, Tamara
“Q&A: Cameron Crowe,”
''Billboard'' 29 Oct. 2005. The Frida Hyvönen cover closed the Letterkenny season 6 episode "Dyck's Slip Out." The original was used to close the Minx season 1 episode 8 "Oh, you're the sun now? Giver of life?" Cass Elliot's recording of the song is played over the end credits of the Outer Range season 1 finale, episode 8 “The West”.

References

{{authority control 1971 songs Songs about Jesus