The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #96529   Message #4234422
Posted By: Dan Schatz
15-Jan-26 - 09:15 PM
Thread Name: Origins:Jesus Christ / Jesse James (Woody Guthrie)
Subject: RE: Origins:Jesus Christ / Jesse James (Woody Guthrie)
There's a version of this with the chorus:

Jesus was a man, a carpenter by hand
His followers true and brave
But the cops and legislators called them dangerous agitators
And they laid Jesus Christ in his grave

Does anyone know where the "agitators" line came from? I can't find a recording of Woody singing it that way, though it certainly sounds like his turn of phrase.

Dan Schatz