We've all seen the video. It's one of those timeless hallmarks of weird Internet virality — a public access recording that's somehow both of the '50s and '80s, with a lilywhite ska band singing, "Jesus my friend! I have a friend named Jesus!" basically ad nauseam until the hilarity stops.
Those in the know know that song was performed by a band called Sonseed (which, as I learned, is apparently pronounced like "sun-seed"). But that's about all that anyone's ever really known about this classic viral video gem.
Until now.
In a recent episode of the podcast In Defense of Ska, hosts Aaron Carnes and Adam Davis dig deep into the history behind "Jesus Is My Friend". And in their search for an answer to how it become such an evergreen delight, they discover something even more incredible: the man who wrote the song. A man named Sal Polichetti, who is full of boisterous enthusiasm without a sense of shame, and is all too happy to talk about the secret history of his silly little song.
Don't worry — there's no dark, seedy underbelly to this story. In fact, it's mostly what you'd expect. But it's worth listening to the episode just to hear Polichetti's gregarious New York accent, as he gleefully recalls something silly and seemingly forgetful that happened to him in the early 1980s, which has since managed to captivate millions and millions of people. It's a delightful episode, and really made me appreciate the song even more. And I didn't even know that was possible!
You can listen to the In Defense of Ska episode about "Jesus Is My Friend" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and most other podcast platforms.
