Jesus Was a Capricorn
1972 album by Kris Kristofferson
Jesus Was a Capricorn is the fourth studio album by American musician Kris Kristofferson, released in 1972 on Monument Records. The album cover pictures Kristofferson and his soon-to-be wife Rita Coolidge. The single "Why Me" reached No. 1 on the US country chart.
Recording and composition
Jesus Was a Capricorn was produced by Fred Foster and, like his previous album Border Lord, features more elaborate instrumentation than his first two LPs. Biographer Stephen Miller notes in his book Kristofferson: The Wild American, "A common criticism directed at Jesus Was a Capricorn was that it was overproduced and moved Kristofferson's songs too far away from the rough-hewn charm of his earlier work." The title track, with its chorus containing the line "Cos everybody's got to have somebody to look down on" was interpreted by some as Kristofferson's reply to critics who disparaged his previous album Border Lord. The song, and Kristofferson's phrasing, is very reminiscent of John Prine, of whom Kristofferson was an early champion. Kristofferson told Graeme Thomson of Uncut in 2016, "I wrote 'Jesus Was A Capricorn (Owed To John Prine)' because I was so influenced by John. When I heard his songs I felt like his writing had kicked me into doing it. You take things from all over the place, though you don't always admit it!
The public source identifies “Jesus Was a Capricorn” as 1972 album by Kris Kristofferson. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Jesus, Capricorn and album.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1100685. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1972 and 2016.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jesus Was a Capricorn” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.