I have a soft spot for songs that take a figure from a religion and helps us see the human side of that figure. After all, as humans we can best connect to understanding other human qualities, so songs that make that connection have a special power. A beautiful song that makes this connection is Richard Shindell’s “The Ballad of Mary Magdalene,” which captures the heartbreak of the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Jesus loved me this I know,
Why on earth did he ever have to go?
He was always faithful;
He was always kind;
But he walked off with this heart of mine.
“The Ballad of Mary Magdalene” first appeared on Shindell’s album Blue Divide (1994), and he also recorded the song along with Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky in their “supergroup” Cry Cry Cry on their 1998 self-titled
Shindell has a distinctive voice that is great at capture the pathos behind a song. The video below features Richard Shindell playing “The Ballad of Mary Magdalene” at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio on February 24, 2010.
What is your favorite song about a religious figure that captures a human connection? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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