Dan Bern Jerusalem Lyrics

When I tell you that I love you don't test my love
Accept my love, don't test my love
'Cause maybe I don't love you all that much

Don't ask what kind of music I'm gonna play tonight
Just stay a while, hear for yourself a while
And if you must put me in a box, make sure it's a big box
With lots of windows and a door to walk through

And a nice high chimney so we can burn, burn, burn
Everything that we don't like
And watch the ashes fly up to Heaven
Maybe all the way to India, I'd like that

All the ancient kings came to my door
They said, "Do you want to be an ancient king too?"
I said, "Oh yes, very much, but I think my timing's wrong"
They said, "Time is relative or did you misread Einstein?"
I said, "Do you really mean it?"
They said, "What do you think we come here for
Our goddamn health or something?"

Everybody's waiting for the Messiah, the Jews are waiting
Christians are waiting, also the Muslims
It's like everybody's waiting, they've been waiting a long time I know how I hate to wait like even for a bus or something

An important phone call so I can just imagine
How darned impatient everybody must be getting
So I think it's time now, time to reveal myself
I am the Messiah, I am the Messiah

Yes, I think you heard me right, I am the Messiah
I was gonna wait till next year, build up the suspense a little
Make it a really big surprise but I could not resist
It's like when you got a really big secret
You're just bursting to tell someone

It was sort like that with this
And now that I've told you, I feel this great weight lifted
Dr. Nusbaum was right, he's my therapist
He said get it out in the open

I spent ten whole days in Jerusalem, mmm Jerusalem
Sweet Jerusalem and all I ate was olives, nothing but olives
Mountains of olives, it was a good ten days
I like olives, I like you too

So when I tell you that I love you don't test my love
Accept my love, don't test my love
'Cause maybe I don't love you all that much