Black Cross (1948)

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Black Cross (also known as Hezekiah Jones, after the main character) is a poem by Joseph Simon Newman, published in his 1948 collection It Could Be Verse!.[1]

Storyline

Black Cross was a story Hezekiah, a poor black farmer, who worked his two acres of land; but, he also saved up for and read books. The white folks thereabouts thought him harmless enough, but that "reading ain't no good for an ignorant nigger".

One Day, Reverend Green, of the white man's church, visited him and asked if he believed in the Lord, the church, and Heaven. Hezekiah replied, that he'd never seen the Lord; that the church was divided; and that he tried to be as good as he could without expecting anything from Heaven or the Lord.[2]

Verses

The full verses of Black Cross:[3]

There was Old Hezekiah Jones, of Hogback County.

He lived on a hill in a weather beaten hovel.

And all that he owned was a two-acre plot

with a bed and some books and a hoe and a shovel.


Old Hezekiah, black as the soil he was hoeing,

Worked pretty hard to make both ends meet.

Raised what he ate, with a few cents over

To buy corn liquor that he drank down neat,


And a few cents more that he put in the cupboard

Against what he called "the rainy season,"

But he never got to save more'n two or three dollars

Till he spent it for this or that reason.


The white folks around knew old Hezekiah...

Said, "Well, he’s harmless enough, but the way that I figure

He better put down them goddamn books,

'Cause reading ain't no good for an ignorant nigger."


Reverend Green, of the white man's church,

Finally got around to "comin' over

To talk with you-all about the Pearly Kingdom

An' to save your soul for the Lord Jehovah!"


"Do you believe in the Lord?" said the white man's preacher.

Ol’ Hezekiah puckered his frosty brow,

Say, "I can't say 'yes,' so I ain't gonna say it,

‘Cause I’ve never seen de Lord....nowhere....no-how."


“Do you believe in the church?” said the white man's preacher,

Ol’ Hezekiah said, “Well, er, ah, the church is divided,

If they can’t make up their minds, I can’t either.

So, I’m just like them,” say, “I ain’t decided.”


“Do you believe in Heaven?” said the white man’s preacher.

"Where you go, if’n you're good, for your last reward?"

"I'm good," said Hezekiah, "good as I'm able,

But I don't expect nothing from Heaven OR the Lord."


"You don't believe nothin'," said the white man's preacher.

"Oh yes I do," said Hezekiah,

"I believe that a man should be beholding to his neighbor

Without the reward of Heaven or the fear of hell fire."


“Well, there's a lot of good ways for a man to be wicked!”

And they hung Hezekiah as high as a pigeon,

And the nice folks around said, "well, he had it comin'

'Cause the son-of-a-bitch didn't have no religion!"

Performances

The poem was a signature piece of the American stage performer Lord Buckley. A live performance, in which he speaks the words over a solo female voice singing and humming the spiritual "Kumbaya" and a sparse instrumental accompaniment, is included on his 1959 album Way Out Humor, re-released in 1964 as Lord Buckley in Concert.[4]

Early in his career, Bob Dylan performed the poem, in slightly shortened form, as a spoken piece with guitar accompaniment in a style based on that of Lord Buckley. Two amateur recordings exist: on one of the Minnesota Hotel Tapes, December 1961, and on the Second Gaslight Tape, October 1962.[5][6] The Minnesota performance was released on the 1969 bootleg album Great White Wonder, and has since been included in other unofficial compilations. The Gaslight performance was released on the unofficial 1985 album Gaslight Tapes.[7]

References

  1. Joseph Simon Newman. It Could Be Verse!. 1948. World Publishing Co. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  2. Black Cross (Hezekiah Jones). Wikipedia. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  3. "Black Cross". lordbuckley.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  4. Lord Buckley – Way Out Humor. Discogs. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  5. "Black Cross (Hezekiah Jones), (Joseph S. Newman/Richard "Lord" Buckley/Bob Dylan)". bobdylanroots.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  6. "Black Cross by Lord Buckley". bobdylan.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  7. Bob Dylan – Gaslight Tapes. Discogs. Retrieved January 30, 2021.