ApologetiX- Song Lyrics: Jericho

Chart History
From the album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, Vertigo was a #1 Modern Rock, #1 Mainstream Rock, #31 Pop hit for U2 in 2004.

Songwriter:
U2

J's Journal:
Although the name Jericho evokes images of Joshua, this song's about a guy who was really up a tree --Zaccheus, a tax collector too short to see Jesus through the crowds when the Lord came to the town of Jericho, so he put aside his pride and climbed up onto the edge of a sycamore branch for a better view. Most people, including Zaccheus (and maybe you, too, had you lived back then) thought Jesus wouldn't want anything to do with a bad tax collector, but the Lord works in mysterious ways -- Jesus looked up and saw Zaccheus and knew his heart's desire, so He called him down by name and invited Himself over to Zaccheus' house for dinner, leaving one repentant sinner dizzy with delight and many unrepentant Pharisees scratching their heads. I didn't set out to do anything with "Vertigo" by U2. Usually we shy away from doing spoofs of songs by groups that have Christian overtones. I knew of the song, and the line "I'm at a place called Jericho" just came to me one day. The very next day, Karl said to me, "Hey, 'Vertigo' by U2 just won a grammy. We ought to do something with that song." I took that as a confirmation, but I didn't really want to do another song about Joshua. Then I thought about how the story of Zaccheus takes place in Jericho, too. I remember way back when I was in grade school, one time a kid had to do the Bible reading for a church service, and it was, "Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, and there was a man named Zaccheus, the chief among the tax collectors." We'd done a song about Zaccheus called "Hey Zaccheus" in the early days of the band, but it never made it onto CD, so I thought we'd take another look at the story, from Zaccheus' perspective. Special thanks to Vann Lantz, Greg Savitt, and Lisa Duncan for their help with the Hebrew counting at the beginning.

Stats:
Genre: Modern Rock
Length: 3:11

Jericho
Parody of "Vertigo" by U2
(Luke 19:1-9)

Achat, shtayim
Achat, shtayim, shalosh, arba

Christ’s in town, the Lord
The trouble is my head, can’t see, I’m short
And Jericho is thronged and jammed
I thought I’d climb so high and then I saw
The Man they sought for signs and wonders

Shalom, shalom
I’m at a place called Jericho
My name’s Zacchaeus if you didn’t know
And the view’s really something from this tree, tree

My life is cruel and cold
I’ve always been a guy who clings to gold
I think of all the times I’ve robbed and stole
I need a second chance – can He save souls?
I’m a man who cheats on taxes he collects
So I guess I’ve failed -- then Jesus cranes His neck
Sayin’ to me, “You there!” Maybe He can use me

Shalom, shalom
I’m at a place called Jericho
He said, Zacchaeus, let’s get dinner, bro
But first you need to come down from the tree, tree

Yeah, yeah, yeah! Here we go! Jump in!

All my debts I will now restore
Half of this, I give to the poor
All the rest I give to the Lord
Forgiveness is what I want – I know what’s it’s worth

Shalom, shalom
I’m at a place called Jericho
Christ’s in town, and all I know is the Dude’s really something
I can feel His love reaching me now
Read Luke 19 you’ll see how
Cause He's real! Real!

Luke 19:1-3
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.