And the night comes again to the circle studded sky
The stars settle slowly, in lonliness they lie
'Till the universe expodes as a falling star is raised
Planets are paralyzed, mountains are amazed
But they all glow brighter from the briliance of the blaze
With the speed of insanity, then he dies.

In the green fields a turnin', a baby is born
His cries crease the wind and mingle with the morn
An assault upon the order, the changing of the guard
Chosen for a challenge that is hopelessly hard
And the only single sound is the sighing of the stars
But to the silence and distance they are sworn

So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
'Cause we love you

Images of innocence charge him go on
But the decadence of destiny is looking for a pawn
To a nightmare of knowledge he opens up the gate
And a blinding revelation is laid upon his plate
That beneath the greatest love is a hurricane of hate
And God help the critic of the dawn.

So he stands on the sea and shouts to the shore,
But the louder that he screams the longer he's ignored
For the wine of oblivion is drunk to the dregs
And the merchants of the masses almost have to be begged
'Till the giant is aware, someone's pulling at his leg,
And someone is tapping at the door.

To dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
'Cause we love you

Then his message gathers meaning and it spreads across the land
The rewarding of his pain is the following of the man
But ignorance is everywhere and people have their way
Success is an enemy to the losers of the day
In the shadows of the churches, who knows what they pray
For blood is the language of the band.

The Spanish bulls are beaten; the crowd is soon beguiled,
The matador is beautiful, a symphony of style
Excitement is estatic, passion places bets
Gracefully he bows to ovations that he gets
But the hands that are applauding are slippery with sweat
And saliva is falling from their smiles

So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
'Cause we love you

Then this overflow of life is crushed into a liar
The gentle soul is ripped apart and tossed into the fire.
First a smile of rejection at the nearness of the night
Truth becomes a tragedy limping from the light
All the heavens are horrified, they stagger from the sight
As the cross is trembling with desire.

They say they can't believe it, it's a sacreligious shame
Now, who would want to hurt such a hero of the game?
But you know I predicted it; I knew he had to fall
How did it happen? I hope his suffering was small.
Tell me every detail, for I've got to know it all,
And do you have a picture of the pain?

So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
'Cause we love you

Time takes her toll and the memory fades
but his glory is broken, in the magic that he made.
Reality is ruined; it's the freeing from the fear
The drama is distorted, to what they want to hear
Swimming in their sorrow, in the twisting of a tear
As they wait for the new thrill parade.

Yes, the eyes of the rebel have been branded by the blind
To the safety of sterility, the threat has been refined
The child was created to the slaughterhouse he's led
So good to be alive when the eulogy is read
The climax of emotion, the worship of the dead
And the cycle of sacrifice unwinds.

So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
'Cause we love you

And the night comes again to the circle studded sky
The stars settle slowly, in lonliness they lie
'Till the universe expodes as a falling star is raised
Planets are paralyzed, mountains are amazed
But they all glow brighter from the briliance of the blaze
With the speed of insanity, then he died.


Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery

Crucifixion Lyrics as written by Phil Ochs

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Crucifixion song meanings
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9 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is always painful since it is so true.

    The vultures hovering: "Tell me every detail, I've got to know it all, And do you have a picture of the pain?"

    The "nice Christian" hatred: "In the shadows of the churches, who knows what they pray For blood is the language of the band."

    lostsplineon July 29, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is amazing.

    Relinquo1on December 24, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Phil Ochs deserves more comments, I mean this is one of the finest songs I have ever heard.

    Relinquo1on February 20, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    phil said that he wrote this song about john f kennedy and "hero killing in general". he later said that it was about "christ, robert f kennedy, john f kennedy, and martin luther king junior".

    bob420on June 29, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Phil Ochs is freaking awesome...this is his best ode

    OpinionHeadon July 03, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i heard this song in my history class when we were watching a video on the jfk assasination.

    sad but has cool guitar and lyrics

    lilbirdyfoofooon June 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The acoustic guitar version is actually more powerful than the orchestral version, I think... When I heard him play the bullfight verse on guitar, it literally made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

    Brilliant songwriting.

    LtAxlerod932on January 18, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I remembered this song from the late 60's and 70's....it sent chills down my spine then and it sends chills down my spine now. There is so much truth in this song it is scary...and a powerful and thought provoking song worthy of remembering....I saw a youtube live version performed in 1965 where he said this song would not be acceptable in this century and here it is nearly 50 years later....and it needs to be sung again...

    aguilamoriscaon March 17, 2014   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    I sang this in the sixties. It was an anthem. It is incontrovertably uninterpretatble.

    quilceneon August 11, 2006   Link

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