On The Via Dolorosa

(album: The Holy Land - 1969)

We are on the Via Dolorosa the way of the Cross having just left the Praetorium
Where Pilate said to Christ I washed my hands off the matter
And turned him over to the people and told them to do what they would with him
There's no traffic here the streets's very narrow
Little children playing along the street the street's about ten feet wide
You see the third station of the Cross
Where Christ almost fell under the weight of the Cross
He's kneeling and the fourth station of the Cross over there
Over forty or fifty feet farther toward Calvary
Where His mother came up to Him and said my Son what's happened
And she sees Him kneeling under the heavy weight of the Cross too
Continuing on now toward Calvary from the fourth station of the Cross
We left the Praetorium where Christ was sentenced and where he was turned over
To the Jewish people and they were offered Barabbas and they said
No give us Christ we'll crucify him
Following along the stations of the Cross passing station No 5
And they say at this point that Simon a Cyrenean coming out of the country
On him they laid the Cross they made him bear it for Jesus
And they continued on the way of the Cross as we are now
Leaving place No 5 toward Calvary it's a long long way from here
You can see standing here between station No 5 and No 6
Two hundred yards at least up the steps toward Calvary's hill
All along it's a very narrow street ten or twelve feet wide
Shops on each side little children playing old men and women
Carrying their bread dressed in their long robes
Just as they did two thousand years ago
The music here in the background is a radio playing (is that an Arab station)
Still continuing up the way of the Cross toward Calvary
The voices you hear in the background are pilgrims from all over the world
All along the Via Dolorosa here there are beggars (I suppose mostly Arab beggars)
Passing station No 10 continuing on to Calvary they are all along the way
They say that they are all blind
They say that the reason there are so many blind along
This part of the country is because of the dust
Everywhere the wind is blowing and the dust is flying
And of course there are germs in the dust that diseases their eyes
And the dust itself puts them out
On the way to Calvary we pass another beggar sitting along the way
All kinds of shops pilgrims continuing on the same way we're going
Now closer to Calvary the way really gets crowded
It's still the same very narrow street though