Song 55: I Want to be a Christian

I Want to be a Christian - The Proclaimers

Sometimes it's all about the singing. These two bespectacled twins from Leith via Auchtermuchtie, an ever-present oddity on the UK music scene, sing with their whole beings, sing in the most stirring, unadorned way, combining the roots of their homeland with American county and soul, that it gives you a pride in something you may not have any part of.

And this is, just about, my favourite piece of Proclaimers singing. And that's saying something, as you'll know if you've ever heard Sunshine on Leith or 'Act of Remembrance' or 'Letter from America' or, of course, '500 Miles'. Those are their own songs, which display great songwriting skills, while 'I Want to be a Christian' is an old gospel song, a song which was later sampled by Moby for his 2002 single 'In My Heart', which is ok.

I actually love the lyric of the song, which is only one line; "Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart" - that's it. I love it because it's ambiguous. "I want to be a Christian - but I'm not one. I wish I could be one. I'd like to believe, it seems great, but I just don't. I'd like to live a good life, but I'm a terrible arsehole, to be honest." What's stopping our hero from being a Christian? Another song with a similarly double-edged lyrics, I always think, is 'I Believe When I Fall In Love With You It Will Be Forever', that beautiful Stevie Wonder song. But, again, why has he not fallen in love with her already? Does he want to, but he's just not able to?

Anyway, the Proclaimers heard something in that lyric they thought they could give some oomph too, and they do. How many people really sing like this, really lay it on the line with every note like this? I'm sure The Proclaimers don't mind too much that people know them as those funny looking chaps in glasses, nor that they're mainly know for "du-du-la-duh" being sung at weddings up and down the country - not just in Scotland [incidentally, it's no wonder it was Little Britain that made '500 Miles' a massive Comic Relief hit in 2007 - Matt Lucas is the world's biggest Proclaimers fan, and wrote the sleevenotes to their Greatest Hits]. Having toured with Dexys back in the 80s, they share a similar fate of being remembered for a very odd hit and one singalong wedding hit.
I don't think it's one of the great injustices - I mean, these are the bands who earned enough to still be performing and making music to this day. I suppose in the music industry you take what you can get.

Anyway, listen to this, it's spine-tingling. As is 'Sunshine on Leith' every time. It strikes me that the reason something like Celtic soul exists is that somehow it's more acceptable for Scottish and Irish acts to have a naked religiosity in their music than English acts, from U2 to Belle and Sebastian. One of the few English acts who I've heard using God and Jesus effectively in their music is Spiritualized, and there it is as an artistic device, rather than a genuine statement of faith (albeit it's just as moving). A nice companion piece to 'I Want to be a Christian', where it is not the voice but the noise that takes centre-stage, is Spiritualized's version of 'Oh Happy Day'. Rapture.