Inside Tracks #38: Genesis "Jesus He Knows Me" w/Covers by Ghost, Holly Wilson, Fool Moon, Heart Attack, Emil Bulls, Pinxtones

In the span of 32 years, a song that's gone from gentle fun-poking to cynical, mocking, and explicit in its most recent recording. Plus, a look at a handful of covers that fall somewhere in between.

And, There Have Been Three (l-r): Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, all credited with writing the song.📸Kompas.com

Christopher Bradley

, on July 9, 2024, featured the impressive Ghost cover of this song on his daily “Woke up with this song in my head” feature on Substack’s in-house social media, Notes. That prompted this “Inside Tracks.” Christopher writes the fascinating Substack, Daydreamin’ ‘Bout the Way Things Sometimes Are.

Genesis first released “Jesus He Knows Me” in November 1991, and featured it on We Can’t Dance, their 14th studio album (produced by Nick Davis and Genesis). The song’s most recent cover was by hard rockers, Ghost, in April 2023…a release that was accompanied by a controversial video, whose explicitness (however simulated) went far beyond the over-the-top, but nevertheless, tame sarcasm of Genesis.

In between these two “G” bands, the song has seen a dozen other covers, including a couple acapella groups, and a peek at a female vocal turn on the song! We’ll drop the needle on a few, and see what’s up behind some of them. We’ll go chronologically.

The Genesis of “Jesus He Knows Me”

Released in July 1992 as We Can’t Dance’s 4th single, the song is a satire of televangelism, a burgeoning pop culture phenomenon, of a sort, in the ‘80s. It was released during a time when several “name” televangelists, Jimmy Swaggart, Robert Tilton and Jim Bakker, to name three, were under investigation for promising financial success to their listeners, provided they send money to them.

The song reached #10 in Canada, #20 in the UK (on Virgin Records) and #23 in the U.S. (Atlantic Records).

“Before the lyrics were added (according, to the song’s Wiki page), the song’s title was ‘Do The New Thing,’ possibly referencing Tony Banks’ opening keyboard notes, which are heard again in the bridge. According to the behind-the-scenes documentary, Genesis: No Admittance, the first lyric Phil Collins wrote out of improvisation was the chorus line, ‘Jesus, he knows me, and he knows I’m right.’”

A New Jersey pastor, Marc Oehler, shown above (West Side Presbyterian of Bergen County), was recently interviewed about the song by Devon Ivie on Vulture.com:

“I think the line ‘Jesus, he knows me / And he knows I’m right’ is brilliant. What’s that old saying? ‘God created us in his image, and we return the favor.’ Basically: Whatever you want, pastor.”

“Following up that lyric logically took him to the idea of manic/fanatic Christians who believe that they are ‘in touch’ with the Almighty, which was best personified by televangelists, many of whom finance their lavish lifestyles by conning believers out of charitable donations. Banks commented that while he likes the song, it’s a bit more cynical than Collins’ usual style of songwriting”:

The Covers: A Mixed-Genre Bag!