Holy City

Album: The Classic (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Joan as Police Woman (aka Joan Wasser), wrote this tune after playing a gig in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. She explained to The Line Of Best Fit how she ended up penning this song about the holy city of Jerusalem: "I love travelling and I have always wanted to check out that part of the world," she said. "I am not religious per se but religion is fascinating to me as is how human beings have interacted with God."

    "It turned out, by chance, that one of my friends was in Jerusalem because she was studying to be a rabbi and so I played the show in Tel Aviv and then travelled around for a week," Wasser added. "We got to Jerusalem and stayed with her and she was the best tour-guide. It was tremendous. I wanted to bring home as much halva as is humanly possible. We went to the Wailing Wall and I am so glad I saw that because people in ecstasy is always a great thing to witness. I thought – wow, I can relate to that feeling. I get it from music and I get it from being in love. So I used it as the pop song fodder for a person that I am into, entering the holy city."
  • Jerusalem is an important to many major religions. Jews consider it as a holy city because it was their religious and political center during Biblical times and the place where the Temple of God stood. Christians consider Jerusalem holy because many events in the life of Jesus Christ took place in the city. Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad rose to heaven from there. Here are three more songs on our database inspired by Jerusalem:

    "Jerusalem" by Esther Ofarim
    "Jerusalem (Out of Darkness Comes Light)" by Matisyahu
    And the hymn "Jerusalem."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Don Felder

Don FelderSongwriter Interviews

Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Now we know where the "warm smell of colitas" came from.

Real or Spinal Tap

Real or Spinal TapMusic Quiz

They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee JonesSongwriter Interviews

Rickie Lee Jones on songwriting, social media, and how she's handling Trump.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."