Styx
Christopher, Mr. Christopher 1974 |
Christopher, Mr. Christopher
Written by Dennis DeYoung
Lead vocals by Dennis DeYoung
I remember Christopher
such a man
so brave and tall
he took the baby Jesus
in his arms
across the waterfall
people cried, "he's holy!
he's a saint not a man!"
all at once it was written
in the book of the land
Christopher, Mr. Christopher
why won't they leave you alone?
Christopher, Mr. Christopher
why won't they leave you alone?
there was Mary Margaret
a Christian lady
dressed in black
she believed St. Christopher
helped her find
a way back
she told him all her secrets
and the dreams of her years
so when they took that saint away
all that's left were her tears
Mary cried "they're crazy!
the world is changing too fast!"
it was then she discovered
that her faith couldn't last
Christopher, Mr. Christopher
why won't they leave you alone?
Christopher, Mr. Christopher
why won't they leave you alone?
Christopher, Mr. Christopher
why won't they leave you alone?
Christopher, Mr. Christopher
why won't they leave you alone?
Interpretation
St. Christopher was the patron saint of travellers, due to a popular legend in which a child asked to be carried across the river but was extremely heavy because he was actually Christ bearing the weight of the world. In 1969, he was removed from the Catholic Calendar of Saints because of the Church's belief that there was no historical evidence to support that Christopher, who died in the third century, actually lived a life of holiness and performed the miracles that had been attributed to him..
The opening line, "I remember Christopher" places Christopher as a person (or in this case saint) of the past, meaning that he exists now only in memory rather than as the actual saint that he was believed to be for so many centuries. The verse continues, "...such a man/so brave and tall" referring to one legend that Christopher grew to giant proportions when he carried Christ across the river. This situation is the subject of the next verse "he took the baby Jesus/in his arms/across the waterfall," based on the aforementioned legend of carrying Christ (in the form of a child) across the river.
The practice in the early Church of recognizing saints based on popular acclaim rather than on documented facts is then highlighted with the verse, "people cried, 'he's holy!/he's a saint not a man!'/all at once it was written/in the book of the land." The formal canonization of saints was not adopted until the fifteenth century, well after Christopher had been accepted as saint.
The story moves to the present as the song continues, "there was Mary Margaret/a Christian lady/dressed in black"Mary Margaret was probably an acquaintance of Dennis (real or imagined?), a devout Christian who was in mourning (wearing black). She apparently believed that he had actually performed a miracle for her, personally ("she believed St. Christopher/helped her find/a way back"). She had, therefore, held St. Christopher in high regard ("she told him all her secrets/and the dreams of her years"), explaining the mourning she felt at losing her favorite saint ("so when they took that saint away/all that's left were her tears").
The loss of St. Christopher was apparently a personal blow to Mary, who lashed out at the revisionism of the modern Church ("Mary cried 'they're crazy!/the world is changing too fast!'"), leading to a tragic loss of faith in the Church which had been so important to her throughout her life ("it was then she discovered/that her faith couldn't last").
The chorus of the song, "Christopher, Mr. Christopher/why won't they leave you alone?" summarizes the theme of the song by asking why the Church couldn't have just kept all the saints, real or imagined, that Catholics for centuries had relied on as part of their faith rather betraying that faith in the name of historical accuracy.
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