He was but a traveller on the lonely road of life,
She, her name was Mary, a lady of the night,
She found him lying in that road, on a winter's night so cold,
Just another poor boy, treat him right;
She saw that he was hungry and gave him food to eat,
She knew that he was weary and he had no place to sleep,
She took him home to her own bed, she lay down his wounded head,
And washed away the world from his hands and his feet,
He was just another poor boy, just another poor boy,
When he cried out in his sleep she held him tight,
Just another poor boy, just another poor boy,
And she gave him love and comfort through the night,
Till the morning's light...
At night she sat beside him, by the fire he would talk,
He said all men were brothers and that love could conquer all,
Many gathered round to hear, many for his life did fear,
In troubled times like these men seldom talked.
Oh they came for him one morning at the breaking of the day,
She woke to hear him calling as they carried him away,
Accusing him of spreading lies and hate,
His public meetings were a danger to the state,
Some soldier said "Who was he anyway?"
Just another poor boy, just another poor boy,
And the tears were falling from her face like rain,
Just another poor boy, just another poor boy,
And they hung him on a hillside far away,
And on the ground she lay ... poor boy ... oh my Lord...
Oh my Lord ... oh my Lord...
Just another poor boy, just another poor boy,
And the tears were falling from her face like rain,
Just another poor boy, just another poor boy,
And they hung him on a hillside far away, just another poor boy,
Just another poor boy, just another poor boy,
And she never dreamed she'd see his face again...
"That was written in my spiritual phase. You see, with Spanish Train and A Spaceman Came Travelling... all I'm doing is looking at the old story in a different way. I rmember somebody making a remark that if Jesus came back today - or certainly during the 60's - then he would have been lost in among all the hippies. But he would have stood out. In Just Another Poor Boy, I'm suggesting that, as far as the people of his times were concerned, Jesus was just another bloke. You know, causing trouble - and there he was, attracting all those people. The song is trying to dig a little bit into the myth, into whatever the story was. If you were alive in Palestine in those days and you heard about this guy... then that's what my stand-point is; just another poor boy. Mary Magdelene was a call-girl, apparently, a lady of the night. She took care of Jesus and comforted him - but then she realised that there was something really different about him. And at night she sat beside him, and he'd talk around the fire. So, it's kind of from her stand-point, too. Then, when Jesus was arrested, the soldiers said 'Well - who was he anyway?' And THAT's the point; it was only after, after the crucifixion, that he suddenly became this monstrous figure. The song has a lovely little ending where it suggests that this was the beginning of the whole thing. I find that kind of an interesting and exciting way of looking at it."
The Getaway Gazette, January 1987
Albums
"Just Another Poor Boy" appears on the following albums:
