Several people have suggested that "The holy people" in Sydney Carter's Lord of the Dance is not a reference to the entirety of the Jewish people (of Jesus's time). E.g., one person wrote,

"The suggestion that "the holy people" means "the Jews" - presumably as some kind of improvised variation of "the chosen people" - is a strange one indeed. It definitely wouldn't have been what Sydney Carter had in mind. I doubt very much if it's been understood that way by many of those who sing it."

I'll agree with the last sentence, but disagree strongly with the first two. I think Sydney Carter knew his "Old Testament" better than most people do now. Exodus 19:6,
"And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel."
Deuteronomy 7:6, "For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."

It's no improvised variation of anything - it's right there in the King James version, and it refers to the Jewish people in its entirety, not just some officials or some faction. I'm quite convinced that when Sydney Carter used the phrase "the holy people" he was alluding to Deuteronomy.

So I'll maintain my position that the song perpetuates the myth that the Jewish people as a whole crucified Jesus - at least for those listeners familiar enough with the Bible to get the allusion. And I'll add that this myth has been the root cause of centuries of hideous persecutions of Jews. Sing the song if you must, but know what you're singing.