Ben Folds: Jesusland Meaning

Song Released: 2005

Jesusland Lyrics

Take a walk
Out the gate you go and never stop
Past dollar stores and wig shops
Quarter in a cup for every block
And watch the buildings grow
Smaller as you go

Down the tracks
Beautiful McMansions on a hill
That overlook a...

1. anonymous

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   May 16th 2006 report

   This song is mainly about what would happen if Jesus returned today, and walked through a typical slice of (in this case particularly Midwestern) America today, with the big box stores and "McMansions on a hill", the sharp contrast between the haves and have-nots (such as pointing out there's someone asking for money on every corner), and the constant materialistic focus. As he points out, these people claim to be followers of Jesus who use his name but "don't know" his "face", because if he were to walk through urban/suburban America today most people would just think he was another homeless bum (in the song it describes him as falling asleep on their front lawns).
   
   The point seems to be that these same people who claim to be Christians and say "What would Jesus do?" have strayed so far from what Jesus actually taught and did that walking through predominantly Christian America, Jesus would find himself a "Stranger in a Strange Land", to quote the title of a Robert Heinlein book. Which is why in the song the character described says "a prayer for Jesusland".
2. anonymous

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   Jan 24th 2006 report

   Ben Actually told the audience about this song at a recent concert in Dallas, Texas.
   
   The song is about the things that Jesus would see and think if he were alive today, walking from the inside of a city to the outskirts and suburban areas. It's a commentary about how today's society has become even though it started out as "Jesusland"
3. ben

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   Apr 26th 2005 report

   Ben Folds wrote this song after the 2004 election. A diagram circulated on the Internet showing all blue states connected to Canada as the "United States of Canada" and all the red states as "Jesusland".
   
   This song is about a walk through "Jesusland"