Jesus Christ Pose (5:51)

This is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden, released in 1991 as the first single from the band’s third studio album, Badmotorfinger (1991). The song was included on Soundgarden’s 1997 greatest hits album, A-Sides.

Origin and recording:
“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. Drummer Matt 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.”

Composition:
“Jesus Christ Pose” was performed in drop D tuning and is in 4/4 time. 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.”

About The Lyrics:
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’. Cornell specifically mentioned Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell as an influence on the song, explaining, “It became fashionable to be the sort of persecuted-deity guy.” In an interview, Cornell explained the term “Jesus Christ Pose”: