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Unto Us

from The Wassailant by Kofi Young

/

lyrics

If Christ from heaven descended low and came today as a stranger
Would he pick a hospital or stick with hay and manger?
Would our politicians lavish him with perfumes, incense, jewels?
Or would the system swallow him and pack him off to school?
Would his teachers know the saviour in his shabby uniform?
Or just see a precocious child and force him to conform?

Would we fail him like we fail so many of our own?
Jobless, homeless, down-at-heel, abandoned and alone?
Would we hear his message or would we just think him mad?
Streaming sermons on the mount – another viral fad?
Would we monetise his words just like we did before?
Would we twist his news of peace and use it to breed war?

Would he win the people’s trust? Would he enjoy our favour?
Or would his race, his class, religion, ruffle people’s feathers?
Would he be a victim of our rigid social system?
Would he be rejected, hated, beaten into submission?
Would our leaders, sore afraid, take steps to guarantee his silence?
Would he fade away or would it end again in violence?

And if you think the centuries have made us more enlightened,
Just think on how we demonise the poor, the sick, the frightened.

credits

from The Wassailant, released December 15, 2020
Music and lyrics: Kofi Young
Inspired by Unto Us is Born a Son, (traditional, tr. George Ratcliffe Woodward)

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