WE JUST NEVER UNDERSTOOD
Sung in the style of a negro spiritual
Chorus in minor:
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
Lord, Lord, Lord
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord,
We just never understood.
Minor:
Someday the Lord will come.
That’s what the good book have said.
He be punishin’ the wicked,
And rewardin’ the good.
And most of those remaining
Will be wishing they was dead.
They’ll be singing, Lord, Lord, Lord,
“We just never understood.”
Chorus in major:
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
Lord, Lord, Lord
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord,
We just never understood.
Major:
You had that prophet Jesus down here,
Teaching the truth.
Matthew wrote his words down.
Later they were burnt.
Mark who never knew him
Wrote again third-hand.
And so it ain’t no surprise,
He wrote it down all wrong.
Chorus in minor:
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
Lord, Lord, Lord
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord,
We just never understood.
Minor:
You sent us other prophets,
Messiahs, and priestesses.
Why, the one who came last year SHE won,
A Nobel prize for peace!
But they all are speaking languages
We (and even they) just don’t understand
And so it ain’t no surprise,
We still don’t understand.
Chorus in major:
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
Lord, Lord, Lord
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord,
We just never understood.
Major:
But there be some of us that’s trying
To do your will
And so we have a right to ask
One question still.
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord,
With all due respect,
Lord if it was all so important,
Why didn’t you make it clear?
A KOSHER XMAS CAROL
1. Father:
Every man descended from King David
Wonders when he holds his baby close:
Will he be the one who frees his people?
Will he teach the world the way of peace?
2. Father and Mother together:
Why did the stars shine so brightly the night he was born?
What words those shepherds had to say of him!
Why did those wise men travel so far to see him?
Why did they praise him, and why did they bring him such gifts?
3. Mother:
Every mother of the tribe of Judah
Wonders when she has a new-born son:
Will he be a good man like his father?
Will he love his mother when he’s grown?
4. Father and Mother together:
Why did the stars shine so brightly the night he was born?
What words those shepherds had to say of him!
Why did those wise men travel so far to see him?
Why did they praise him, and why did they bring him such gifts?
5. Mother:
Will he be scholar, or will he be poet or healer?
Will he be messiah or the prophet?
Give us another, prophet like Moses,
Who writes down God’s truth with his own hand.
6. Father and Mother:
How long will God’s people have to suffer?
When will messiah come to set us free?
7. Father:
When he is grown, will people follow and quote him?
Will strangers think him greater than he is?
Mother:
And will his goodness, and their admiration
Be the very cause of his undoing?
8. Father and Mother:
How long will God’s people have to suffer?
When will messiah come to set us free?
