Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" is a song originally recorded by Scottish alternative band The Vaselines for their EP "Dying for It". It is a parody on the Christian children's hymn, "I'll Be a Sunbeam," which has the opening line "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam." The song was little-known outside the indie-pop scene until Nirvana recorded the song in November 1993. The song released on the album and the DVD for their live acoustic "MTV Unplugged in New York" was titled "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" . The Vaselines re-released
In the Sweet By-and-By In the Sweet By-and-By "The Sweet By-and-By" is a Christian hymn with lyrics by S. Fillmore Bennett and music by Joseph P. Webster. It is recognizable by its chorus: Bennett described the composition of the hymn in his autobiography. The hymn, immensely popular in the nineteenth century, became a Gospel standard and has appeared in hymnals ever since. In the New Orleans jazz tradition 'Sweet By-and-By' is a standard dirge played in so-called "jazz funerals". The American composer Charles Ives quoted the hymn in several works, most notably in the finale of his "Orchestral Set No. 2", written between 1915