Jesus Christ Pose

"Jesus Christ Pose" features lyrics written by frontman Chris Cornell and music co-written by Cornell, drummer Matt Cameron, bassist Ben Shepherd, and guitarist Kim Thayil. Some see the song as defining the "essence" of Soundgarden, as it is credited to all four band members. Cameron said, "As soon as I played this pattern everyone dove right in, and within an hour we had the guts of the song. The approach we took on this one was pure assault of the senses. Canadians dance to this song."Peiken, Matt. "Soundgarden's Matt Cameron: Breaking New Ground". Modern Drummer. June 1994.

According to a Rolling Stone interview, Kim Thayil explained the origin of this song:

{{quote|[It] was definitely a jam at rehearsal. I think Ben was just jamming up this loud and blurry, detuned bass line flopping around there. And Matt starts making it precise and coherent; Matt's drum part is insane – it's so fast and coordinated. And I picked up my guitar, thinking, "What the hell are they doing?" It took me a while to figure out what's going on rhythmically and where to punctuate the one, so what I start hearing is that swirling, kamikaze bat [guitar] sound at the beginning. And that was a groove. Then I revisit the feedback and beneath-the-bridge guitar squeals that I used to do in '84 and '85. I did that mostly out of necessity because I really didn't understand what it was Ben and Matt were playing; it was just too fast and involved.

Eventually, Matt and Ben lost each other, so we recorded it. Chris takes it home. We loved the groove, the action and dynamic of it. So Chris takes a recording home and works lyrics and around the lyrics finds a chorus. So he writes a couple other sections to help flesh out the arrangement dynamic and give room for the vocals. He brought that to rehearsal and we're like, "Holy shit, this crazy, insane car wreck is now a song."{{Cite news|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/soundgardens-badmotorfinger-at-25-kim-thayil-looks-back-w449590|title=Soundgarden's 'Badmotorfinger' at 25: Kim Thayil Looks Back|newspaper=Rolling Stone|access-date=November 29, 2016}}}}

{{Listen

| type = music

| title = "Jesus Christ Pose" sample

| filename = Jesus Christ Pose (Soundgarden song - sample).ogg

| description = The song "starts with a kind of free-jazz throwdown and moves quickly into the realm of rockdom."{{cite journal |last=Spencer |first=Lauren |date=October 1991 |title=Platter du Jour: Badmotorfinger |journal=Spin}}}}

Musically, "Jesus Christ Pose" has been described as grunge{{cite web | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/joshua-ostroff/nine-inch-nails-best-band-90s_b_5600355.html | title=Nine Inch Nails Is The Best Band Of The 90s (And The 2000s, Too) | website=The Huffington Post | access-date=November 14, 2014 | last=Ostroff | first=Joshua| date=August 2014 }} and alternative metal.{{cite web|url=https://loudwire.com/chris-cornell-albums-ranked/|title=Chris Cornell Albums Ranked|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|date=November 2, 2017|website=Loudwire|access-date=January 2, 2020}} It was performed in the key of D minor, with the guitars in drop D tuning, in 4/4 time at a tempo of 134 beats per minute.{{Cite web |title=Soundgarden 'Jesus Christ Pose' Guitar Tab |url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0060865 |access-date=September 18, 2022 |website=Musicnotes| date=December 3, 2007 }} Regarding the song, Thayil said, "The song's groove reminds me of helicopter blades. I bent the strings at the beginning and end of the song."Gilbert, Jeff. [http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/gschool_5-94.shtml "Primecuts: Kim Thayil"]. Guitar School. May 1994. The band explained that the lyrics for "Jesus Christ Pose" concern the exploitation of religion for personal benefit. The song is a criticism of how public figures use religion, particularly the image of Jesus Christ, to portray themselves as being "better" than others, or as "martyrs". Chris Cornell specifically mentioned Jane's Addiction's frontman Perry Farrell[http://cuffarophoto.com/jesus-christ-pose/ Jesus Christ Pose]. Chris Cuffaro. February 18, 2012. as an influence on the song, explaining, "It became fashionable to be the sort of persecuted-deity guy."[http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/request_10-94.shtml "Interview with Chris Cornell"]. Request. October 1994. In an interview with Spin magazine in 1992, Cornell explained the term "Jesus Christ Pose":

{{quote|You just see it a lot with really beautiful people, or famous people, exploiting that symbol as to imply that they're either a deity or persecuted somehow by their public. So it's pretty much a song that is nonreligious but expressing being irritated by seeing that. It's not that I would ever be offended by what someone would do with that symbol.Magnuson, Ann. [http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/spin_2-92.shtml "Sub Zep?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930160144/http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/spin_2-92.shtml |date=September 30, 2007 }}. Spin. February 1992.}}

"Jesus Christ Pose" was released as a single in 1991 in various versions with the previously unreleased B-sides "Stray Cat Blues" and "Into the Void (Sealth)".

Greg Prato of AllMusic said, "In addition to Cornell's biting lyrics and vocals, the rest of the band helped fuel unquestionably one of Soundgarden's most vicious and venomous rockers. Breakneck guitar riffs do battle with sledgehammer drumming for most of the song's five minute and 50 seconds."Prato, Greg. [{{Allmusic|class=song|id=t2765650|pure_url=yes}} "Jesus Christ Pose > Review"]. AllMusic. Retrieved on May 19, 2008. Gina Arnold of Entertainment Weekly stated, "On songs like the cynical 'Jesus Christ Pose' ... Soundgarden sound a hell of a lot smarter than their peers, who seldom get beyond extolling booze, girls, and cars."Arnold, Gina. [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,315669,00.html "Badmotorfinger"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224153936/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C315669%2C00.html |date=February 24, 2009 }}. Entertainment Weekly. September 27, 1991. Retrieved on October 28, 2008.

The song is featured on the soundtrack for the 1994 film, S.F.W. "Jesus Christ Pose" is available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series as a master track.{{cite web|url=http://www.rockband.com/dlc |title=DLC Credits |work=RockBand.com |access-date=February 8, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113025751/http://www.rockband.com/dlc |archive-date=January 13, 2008}} A live performance of "Jesus Christ Pose" can be found on the "Black Hole Sun" single and the compilation album Telephantasm. A performance of the song is also included on the Motorvision home video release.

The music video for "Jesus Christ Pose" was directed by Eric Zimmerman, who would later direct the music video for "Rusty Cage".Soundgarden Rail Against the "Jesus Christ Pose"

in New and Gripping Video. Levine Schneider Public Relations. October 30, 1991. The video's intro adapts John 3:16; "And God So Loved Soundgarden He Gave Them His Only Song". The video features the band members wandering around a desert interspersed with various images of crosses, cyborgs, a crucified girl, a crucified skeleton and even vegetables crucified in human form. Thayil said, "A lot was chosen by the director Eric Zimmerman, and we checked it out and decided what we liked and didn't like." Cornell said, "It was a pretty unanimous decision by the band to have a woman being crucified in the video ... As a visual, it's powerful and it's also challenging to people, because women basically have been persecuted since before recorded history, and it would almost make more sense than seeing a man on it." He also added, "There's upside down crosses and right-side up ones. But there's certainly no blatant direction as far as religious conviction in the video."

Thayil said that the video was one of the few Soundgarden videos the band was satisfied with.Maloof, Rich. [http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/guitar_7-96.shtml "Kim Thayil of Soundgarden: Down on the Upbeat"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303184108/http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/guitar_7-96.shtml |date=March 3, 2016 }}. Guitar Magazine. July 1996. He stated that "on the "Jesus Christ Pose" video we did a lot of experimenting at different kinda fun, cool things. I guess it seems fun to me because I didn't end up getting disappointed by it."Thayil, Kim. "Soundgarden Television Interview". rage. ABC1. The video was released in October 1991.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mvdbase.com/artist.php?last=Soundgarden&first=&sortord=1=|title=Soundgarden music videos|access-date=February 22, 2008|publisher=Music Video Database|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602085044/http://www.mvdbase.com/artist.php?last=Soundgarden&first=&sortord=1=|archive-date=June 2, 2008|url-status=dead}}

"Jesus Christ Pose" garnered attention when MTV banned its corresponding music video in 1991—the channel has not shown it in its entirety since. The song and its video outraged many listeners, who perceived it as anti-Christian, resulting in the band receiving death threats because of it during a UK tour in the early 1990s.[http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/raw_9-28-93.shtml "I Don't Care About Performing for 20,000!"]. Raw. September 15, 1993. Thayil stated that the song and video "never got any airplay because of the references to Jesus. And MTV wouldn't play the video because they didn't like the idea of a girl on the cross. There are no guitars in the video at all. There's not even a picture of a guitar in the video. It's like this hard, rock-fast, punk-metal video that has no instruments in the whole thing. And it's a six minute video!" Cornell additionally attributed the video's lack of airtime due to its length, comparing MTV's programming at the time to that of a commercial radio station.Cornell, Chris. "Interview with Chris Cornell". bFM, New Zealand. January 16, 1997.

Promotional CD (US) and 12" vinyl (UK)

1. "Jesus Christ Pose" (Matt Cameron, Chris Cornell, Ben Shepherd, Kim Thayil) – 5:51

12" vinyl (UK)

1. "Jesus Christ Pose" (Cameron, Cornell, Shepherd, Thayil) – 5:51
2. "Stray Cat Blues" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 4:46

12" vinyl (UK), CD (UK), and 12" vinyl (UK)

1. "Jesus Christ Pose" (Cameron, Cornell, Shepherd, Thayil) – 5:51
2. "Stray Cat Blues" (Jagger, Richards) – 4:46
3. "Into the Void (Sealth)" (Chief Sealth, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward) – 6:37
4. "Somewhere" (Shepherd) – 4:21

Promotional 7" vinyl (US) and promotional 12" vinyl (US)

1. "Jesus Christ Pose" (Cameron, Cornell, Shepherd, Thayil) – 5:51
2. "Drawing Flies" (Cameron, Cornell) – 2:25

* denotes an unordered list

{{Reflist}}

• {{YouTube|o2OYtKOZKy8|"Jesus Christ Pose" (Official audio)}}
• [{{Allmusic|class=song|id=t2765650|pure_url=yes}} Review of "Jesus Christ Pose"] at AllMusic

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Category:1991 singles

Category:Soundgarden songs

Category:Music video controversies

Category:Song recordings produced by Chris Cornell

Category:Song recordings produced by Matt Cameron

Category:Song recordings produced by Terry Date

Category:Songs written by Chris Cornell

Category:Songs written by Matt Cameron

Category:Songs written by Ben Shepherd

Category:Songs critical of religion

Category:Cultural depictions of Jesus

Category:Songs about Jesus

Category:1991 songs

Category:Songs written by Kim Thayil

Category:A&M Records singles