HANDSOME FAMILY- Have you Been Washed in The Blood of the Lamb
Old School Protestant Hymns are way more hardcore then Ozzy. Look at this one, running into seven minutes of verses, each with the chorus that starts with the line “have you been washed in the blood of the lamb”- we are talking immersions into the blood of a dying god, and blood that rains down to stain those great white vestments.
The Handsome Family, somber and cold, not really part of this alt-country thing, well versed in songs about death that move beyond the morbid into a new kind of severe life, sing this as a dirge, its not the joy that comes with being born again, but the traumatic birth pangs of a new life.
Jesus doesnt seem to be the one who loves you here, but the harsh task master, who expects you to be crucifed along with Him-more for the thief who was condemed then the theif who was saved.