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Passion Play (When All the Slaves are Free) Lyrics
Magdalene is trembling
Like a washing on a line
Trembling and gleaming
Never before was a man so kind
Never so redeeming
Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Ecstasy
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(who're you gonna get)
I am up a sycamore
Looking through the leaves
A sinner of some position
Who in the world can this heart healer be
This magical physician
Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Misery
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(who're you gonna get)
Enter the multitudes
The walking wounded
They come to this diver of the heart
Of the multitudes
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
Oh, climb down, climb down he says to me
From the middle of unrest
They think his light is squandered
But he sees a stray in the wilderness
And i see how far I've wandered
Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Apathy
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(who're you gonna get)
Enter the multitudes
The walking wounded
They come to this diver of the heart
Of the multitudes
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
Oh, all around the marketplace
The buzzing of the flies
The buzzing and the stinging
Divinely barren
And wickedly wise
The killer nails are ringing
Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Tragedy
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(who're you gonna get)
Like a washing on a line
Trembling and gleaming
Never before was a man so kind
Never so redeeming
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Ecstasy
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(who're you gonna get)
Looking through the leaves
A sinner of some position
Who in the world can this heart healer be
This magical physician
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Misery
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(who're you gonna get)
The walking wounded
They come to this diver of the heart
Of the multitudes
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
From the middle of unrest
They think his light is squandered
But he sees a stray in the wilderness
And i see how far I've wandered
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Apathy
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(who're you gonna get)
The walking wounded
They come to this diver of the heart
Of the multitudes
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
The buzzing of the flies
The buzzing and the stinging
Divinely barren
And wickedly wise
The killer nails are ringing
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Tragedy
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(who're you gonna get)
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Joni, who are you talking to? I have wanted to ask you that question for YEARS now!
I think it's a generic "you" meant to apply to anyone. Makes the song's message universal.
I think it's a generic "you" meant to apply to anyone. Makes the song's message universal.
Is she comparing environmental damage to the crucifixion of Christ here? Is 1991 too early to be talking about climate change?
@2014 It is the story of Zacchaeus the Tax Collector from the bible. Luke 19. The song is about redemption.
@2014 It is the story of Zacchaeus the Tax Collector from the bible. Luke 19. The song is about redemption.
Comparison of the "Multitudes in Exxon Blue and Radiation" rose making a social appearance at "church" as compared to the story of a real sinner finding real redemption in seeing and hearing Christ. Anyone want to take a guess as to what she means by who you gonna get to do the dirty work when all the slaves are free?
@patmatt113 \r\nBut Exxon Blue can only mean the oil company. Radiation Rose is the nuclear radiation maybe? The guy is up the tree to stop it getting cut. I took the marketplace as like the stock markets and oil prices and so on. But its thin enough. But I\'m probably just a crazy hippy and see connections where there are none\r\n\r\nI totally get what you are saying about the redemption though, and Zachacceus the tax collectors. I think in that version if Zachaccheus is now redeemed and no longer a sinner, who is going to collect the tax (the...
@patmatt113 \r\nBut Exxon Blue can only mean the oil company. Radiation Rose is the nuclear radiation maybe? The guy is up the tree to stop it getting cut. I took the marketplace as like the stock markets and oil prices and so on. But its thin enough. But I\'m probably just a crazy hippy and see connections where there are none\r\n\r\nI totally get what you are saying about the redemption though, and Zachacceus the tax collectors. I think in that version if Zachaccheus is now redeemed and no longer a sinner, who is going to collect the tax (the dirty work?). Also references to the magdalene laundries too? given then reference to the washing on the line. Maybe the Exxon blue is the horrific colour the nuns wore. In that case the dirty work would be done by the washing machines, not the slaves.
Maybe this song is also about the Magdalene laundries. "Exxon blue" the colour of the multitudes (all those poor unfortunates who populated those laundries for decades) uniforms. \nDoing the "dirty work" of the nuns until those hateful places were finally closed. There were still Magdalene laundries in operation Inn Ireland right up until the 1990\'s. Magdalena, the name speaks for itself.
I have always thought that \'Enter the multitudes in Exxon Blue and Radiation Rose\' refers to all of the minimum wage (or less) workers that wear uniforms to work (like Exxon Blue at McDonald\'s and Radiation Rose at Wendy\'s). These are the people that do the \'dirty work\' whether it is in the fast-food industry, cleaning hotel rooms or working in the fields and who are our modern-day slaves. Who would do this work if they were freed?