Marc Cohn

"She said, 'Tell me, are you a Christian, child?' I said, 'Ma'am, I am tonight.'" — Marc Cohn, "Walking in Memphis"

Folk/soft rocker Marc Cohn, Grammy winner for Best New Artist back in 1992, is best known for his song "Walking in Memphis", which is probably best known for that line. Hell, that line is the reason he is getting this profile! A lot to dissect in that line...

We'll let Cohn explain:

To this day, people still ask me if I am a Christian. While I have to admit that I enjoy the confusion the lyric brings, the thing that makes that line work is the fact that I'm a Jew.

Does the line really work, Marc? Because if it brings so much confusion, we're not sure it does. He goes on:

So many great artists over the years needed to hide the fact that they were Jewish to protect themselves and their families from antisemitism, so I'm proud of the fact that I could come right out and practically announce my religion on the first song I ever released.

The first part, sure... But no, we don't see any announcement here. You know what, Marc, most of us Jews are never Christian, not tonight or on any night.