Songfacts®:

• Stewart wrote this song after visiting Gloucester Cathedral with his aunt. In the New Testament, Jesus is betrayed by Judas Iscariot in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is clear that Al was unimpressed if not revolted by the apparent crass materialism of the Church in soliciting donations from the public left, right and center - "half-a-crown programs on sale at the door" (a half crown was a coin, an eighth of a pound in pre-decimal currency) - photographs and even recordings on sale, anything to make a fast buck, a philosophy completely at odds with the spiritual message of Christ. The reference to Jesus crying in the rain "just Gethsemane again" is that this is a second betrayal. In the end he can take no more and flees the building. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander Baron - London, England