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New Test Leper Lyrics
I can't say that I love Jesus
That would be a hollow claim
He did make some observations
And I'm quoting them today
Judge not lest ye be judged
What a beautiful refrain
The studio audience disagrees
Have his lambs all gone astray
Call me a leper
You are lost and disillusioned
What an awful thing to say
I know this show doesn't flatter
It means nothing to me
I thought I might help them understand
But what an ugly thing to see
"I am not an animal"
Subtitled under the screen
Call me a leper
When I tried to tell my story
They cut me off to take a break
I sat silent five commercials
I had nothing left to say
The talk show host was index-carded
All organized and blank
The other guests were scared and hardened
What a sad parade
What a sad parade
Call me a leper
That would be a hollow claim
He did make some observations
And I'm quoting them today
Judge not lest ye be judged
What a beautiful refrain
The studio audience disagrees
Have his lambs all gone astray
What an awful thing to say
I know this show doesn't flatter
It means nothing to me
I thought I might help them understand
But what an ugly thing to see
"I am not an animal"
Subtitled under the screen
They cut me off to take a break
I sat silent five commercials
I had nothing left to say
The talk show host was index-carded
All organized and blank
The other guests were scared and hardened
What a sad parade
Call me a leper
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The band's "first line Jesus song", it's a comment on the fact that religious people have a habit of criticizing others for not following the Bible and then turning around and doing the same thing themselves.
I can't argue with that: I think you've summed it up excellently. (Well, technically I could argue with your point, if I wanted to, but I doubt I could come up with an actual good argument against it!)
I can't argue with that: I think you've summed it up excellently. (Well, technically I could argue with your point, if I wanted to, but I doubt I could come up with an actual good argument against it!)
wow, quite a song...to me it says people don't hav to agree w/ u, just open their mind
@ZinbobDan I think that Michael Stipe, having lived in the South for so long, would be well aware that there are people out there whose minds just don't do the opening thing.
@ZinbobDan I think that Michael Stipe, having lived in the South for so long, would be well aware that there are people out there whose minds just don't do the opening thing.
I agree w/ avuncular. Love the song.
This seems to address TV evangelism, and the hypocrisy of the Evangicals intolerance, like avucular says.
Excellent song. Possibly my favorite.
I heard it was about an AIDS sufferer on a TV Talk Show.
@driver08uk Me too; I wonder what talk show it was.
@driver08uk Me too; I wonder what talk show it was.
I just wanted to say that this may be my most favorite REM song on my most favorite REM album (excepting maybe Nightswimming).
I think it's about someone who has real views on faith but can't get heard because they don't fit in with popular conceptions. Ironic attack on religion, because that's just what Jesus was.
Oh, I love it :-) I could never be a Christian (don't hassle me about that, I'll respect your religion, you respect mine ;)) But I believe the Bible has a lot of valid points.
Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged
,...How many Emo kids are running around yelling "Don't fucking judge me!" ?
Think about being on a talk show because you have a disease, "leprosy", if you will. It's the modern day freak show, and we watch it to say, "thank god I'm not like them." I think this song addresses the assumption that people have that people who are in a bad situation put themselves there. That kind of judgement, when they can never truly know what's going on behind that person's eyes, is wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Test_Leper
This song is the reason alot of Christians hate REM. (well, at least the dumber ones. no Christians, im not saying you are dumb, but every group has a few idiots mixed in) mostly because of the first line "I can't say that I love Jesus, that would be a hollow claim"
ive always thought that this meant that it's really impossible to actually love someone who you have never met or seen, only read about.
and it's about how Christians like to force their religion on others, and tell them that if they don't believe what they do they will go to hell. but, not just Christians, its about America, the government promoting Christianity and saying all other religions are false even though it's supposed to be a country of religious tolerance.
why should it matter what people think of Jesus? im not of any religion at all, but i do believe Jesus did exist. and that he was a great man, and diserves respect. a peace activist, like ghandi, john lennon, and martin luther king... and just like them, he was brutally murdered for his veiws. though the idea of him being the son of god is well, completely unbelievable to me. even if he was, i would never worship him, i find the idea of worship to be degrading to both parties involved.
perhaps this song is about a view of religion similar to mine, especially on the concept of Jesus.
@EvilVulture Well, his actual name isn't known for sure, but historians do say there's good cause to believe that the Jesus character is based on a real person, the leader of a new religious movement. Of course most of the NT was written generations after the events described actually happened, based on oral tradition that had inflated Jesus's reputation from just a popular leader (whom the Romans considered enough of a threat that they had him executed by one of their notoriously, umm, creative methods: much more brutal than a mere gun) to a god, so it's pretty...
@EvilVulture Well, his actual name isn't known for sure, but historians do say there's good cause to believe that the Jesus character is based on a real person, the leader of a new religious movement. Of course most of the NT was written generations after the events described actually happened, based on oral tradition that had inflated Jesus's reputation from just a popular leader (whom the Romans considered enough of a threat that they had him executed by one of their notoriously, umm, creative methods: much more brutal than a mere gun) to a god, so it's pretty much certain that many of the claims (certainly the rather large number of ones that are not even plausible) are made-up, although the people who first wrote them down may well have believed them to be true.
@EvilVulture You're a shihead for your comment. Thank you very much.
@EvilVulture You're a shihead for your comment. Thank you very much.