“Don't Take Everybody to Be Your Friend”

Description

Singer is traveling for Jesus. His dying mother told him, If you see your brother in the fault, don't gossip; take it to God. People who owe you money will turn away. Refrain: "Don't mind what the people say/Lord, don't take everybody to be your friend"

Notes

I assign Joseph Spence's title, "Don't Take Everybody to Be Your Friend" rather than Frederick McQueen's earlier title, as the 1965 Spence recording is the one that was most widely heard and picked up within the folk revival. - PJS

The thrust of this is almost all out of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), with perhaps a slight detour into the story of the Good Samaritan, but the references are allusions rather than real citations. - RBW

Recordings

• Frederick McQueen & group, "Jesus Will Be Your Friend" (on MuBahamas2)