What do you think Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam means?

The Vaselines: Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam Meaning

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Album cover for Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam album cover

Song Released: 1987


Covered By: Nirvana


Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam Lyrics

Jesus don't want me for a sunbeam,
Cause sunbeams are not made like me,
And don't expect me to cry,
For all the reasons you had to die,
Don't ever ask your love of me.

Don't expect me to lie,
Don't expect me to cry,
Don't expect me to die for thee.

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  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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     Apr 22nd 2014 !⃝

    "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam" was the song taught to children as part of the Sunbeams church program. It refers to shining the light of Jesus through your own life. It goes, "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam to shine for him each day; in every way try to please Him: at home, at school, at play..." The style and words of the song were consistent with patenting, school and church value systems in the era it was most popular. The song is longer, and it is affirming that Jesus cares for and values children. When I heard / saw Kurt sing the song on the MTV unplugged version I was struck by several facts. First, Kurt spent some time as a teenager living with an Evangelical Christian family and supposedly became a born-again Christian during that time. Sometimes people expect this to solve their problems. Kurt suffered from depression - it is obvious in his work and his life ended in a suicide and a note that shows just how depressed he was. Sadly, I think Kurt was angry at God. I think he wanted to be bright and "easily amused" (as All Apologies says). He was not. He was full of emotional turmoil. Hearing the sunbeam song (the real one) sounds ridiculous in such a state. So I think that's why he sang this parody. He doesn't feel he could ever be a sunbeam, and if he can't why would anybody (including Jesus) want him.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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     May 12th 2011 !⃝

    This song may seem anti christ at first but I think it is quite the oppposite.Even the first line admits "Jesus" being a real entity. I believe it could be a song about someone struggling with who they are and why they cant feel and do the things Jesus did for us. It is a feeling of helplessness that we cannot achieve what Jesus did for us. So the author sings if I am incapable of doing the same things as Jesus he is unworthy and therefore unworthy of giving or taking praise from God(Jesus). which isnt so bad of a realization because we can never measure up to that level anyway

  3. anonymous
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     Feb 19th 2023 !⃝

    Finally someone got it above! It's literal.
    It's saying that he is not going to pretend to be perfect like Jesus and that he can't be expected to honor his death and the reason for it or love him. The original song was a children's hymn about Jesus wanting a child for a sunbeam because they are perfect and should be grateful to Jesus for making them so.
    They rewrote the lyrics to illustrate their personal feelings on the vanity in trying to obtain that kind of brilliance and that it's ludicrous to refer to a death in vain as noble and just.

  4. anonymous
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     Nov 6th 2022 !⃝

    Hi, in your text it should be 'parenting', not 'patenting'. Could you please correct this. Thanks, much appreciated.

  5. anonymous
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     Jun 26th 2021 !⃝

    The sunbeam is like someone said it is a satanic light that is bad. To not be a sunbeam is a good thing. Jesus wants to confide in only those who want to share and not take in all the sunlight and block out others. It is good that sunbeams are rare and that success is so hard for most of us. I haven't heard the vaseline version but it is about I met jesus summer '89

  6. anonymous
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     Jun 27th 2019 !⃝

    It’s easy to tell what this song is about. Lots of the time people want to abstain something glorious or that they gain recognition from, but not everyone is cut out for that type of work. Most of us have to do jobs that others don’t want to do or that they didn't previously picture themselves doing. This song is about those types of people... the ones who still do awesome work, but go unrecognized by the general public or mainstream audience. Hinge the JESUS DOESNT WANT ME FOR A SUNBEAM... sunbeams aren’t made for those like me!

  7. anonymous
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     Dec 14th 2017 !⃝

    My opinion, Sunbeams were girls. They wouldn't let a boy join. The guy, Eugene Kelly or whoever it was wrote the song, became disgruntled with religion because he couldn't be a Sunbeam when he was a kid, simple as that. Of course, as is the case with all music, it's up to the individual listener's interpretation. Oh, and don't forget that Oh Me, Lake Of Fire, and Plateau are all Meat Puppets' songs. We human critters are ALL meat puppets...

  8. anonymous
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     Jun 28th 2015 !⃝

    Jesus h. Christ how many people feel the need to re explain it's a vaselines song? If anybody in the world by now doesn't know that then just eat shit already. Anyway MY interpretation of this song is a guy/girl had something traumatic happen to them. One of those "why does God let these things happen" type of thing. The person (probably previously religious) feels betrayed by christ, and betrayed by his faith. This is his bitter anthem and rejection of that faith.

  9. anonymous
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     Jan 8th 2015 !⃝

    My own interpretation of the song title only is this....

    I have so much go give to the world around me, but I keep getting set back health wise, life wise, and everything else wise that apparently instead of shining my bright light inside, I am made sure to stay depressed and dim.

  10. anonymous
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     Jul 24th 2014 !⃝

    He didnt want be a satanist as they are often described as brought to light.

  11. anonymous
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     Mar 6th 2013 !⃝

    Ok let me break this down
    This was a cover song by the vasolines.

    Jesus dont want me for a sunbeam. Cause sunbeams are not made like me.:::.Sunbeams are a metaphor for happiness, the good light inside people, and they are very common because most people are good and the sun is so vast and shines on everything. So he is saying that he isnt worth anything to jesus because he the opposite of a sunbeam aka he is not common , hes dark, and he is a cold person (sun beams are warm)

    Dont expect me to cry for all the reasons you had to die. Dont ever ask your love of me.
    He means dont expect me to feel sorry for what happend to Jesus and dont expect me to embrace him as a savior because he dosent care about christianity.

    Remember this is a cover song it was NOT written by kurt

  12. anonymous
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     May 19th 2012 !⃝

    Thought it was an anthem for abused children.

  13. anonymous
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     Mar 3rd 2012 !⃝

    First think you have to know that it isn't their song but vaselines'. Anyway, song is about a man who is unlucky and lonely cause jesus didn't like him. He doesn't cry because evryone will die someday. That's only my interpretation.

  14. anonymous
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     Jul 28th 2011 !⃝

    i completely agree with the above about meaning that he [or maybe whoever wrote the song as well] realizes how unable he is to become as perfect as Jesus asked.I think the expression of pain in Kurt's face while singing that song is obvious in the Unplugged show.Probably a person who hates or who's mocking Jesus wouldn't express so much emotion/pain while singing it especially Kurt who was of the most original people/artists i've known.
    It's not that i would mind if he meant it in an atheistic way but that's really not what it feels like when ,not only listening, but while watching his performance as well :)

    P.S: I don't know but maybe the setlist of Unplugged is not accidental at all, i've always felt that there's a secret link between this song & Oh me (..formulated Infinity stored deep inside me) ,Lake of fire and of course All Apologies. Maybe i'm wrong though.

    Thank you.

  15. anonymous
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     Jul 8th 2011 !⃝

    This song isn't even by Nirvana; Kurt even says during its performance that it was written by the Vaselines.


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