About

In the early 1980s, Sonseed released a music video for its song "Jesus is a Friend of Mine". This viral video currently has over three million views and has been cycling through the internet with remixes and parodies since 2008.

The internet origins of the video are unknown, but it is said that the video was floating around Myspace until someone grabbed it and uploaded it onto YouTube. The earliest Myspace video available for this song can be found here.

Popularity

The band came back into the spotlight in 2008 when a recording of them performing their song 'Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine', from a religious TV show, appeared on the Dougsploitation blog, and subsequently became a YouTube hit, where it spawned several parodies. Seen here is another article about this song on the same blog. This video seemed to be brought by the attention of the internet by the Dougsploitation blog as seen in the previous article, also seen below.

I've had an amazing homemade VHS tape of a Christian Ska band named "Sonseed" performing "Jesus is My Friend" for about 25 years now. I've shown to to hundreds of my friends, I've entered it into Dennis Hensley's HOME VIDEO GONG SHOW (Where it was unfairly "gonged" by Go-Go Jane Wiedlin), and I've spent countless hours analyzing it and the odd, yet endearing assortment of performers known as "Sonseed". For years I've searched the internet far & wide for information about "Sonseed" and the song-to no avail. Finally, I lent the tape to my good friend Peleg Top who converted it to digital. Alleluia! So, at last, presenting the internet premiere of "Jesus is My Friend"! Spread the word! Warning: This video is highly addictive! PS…If you have any info on "Sonseed", let me know!

The tune is very catchy, and oddly addictive. On the iTunes Store entry for Sonseed, many people claimed to have downloaded the song just because it is an "internet sensation", and not because of the actual message of the song. The customer reviews for this song is slightly like the Three Wolf Moon shirt, in the fact that the people are buying it and then reviewing the song as if it were the best song ever. Others say that this song is an embarrassment to modern Christian music, although it is rumored that it was originally written as a children's song.

Remixes

Derivatives

Update: Mainstream crossover

On the NBC sitcom Community season 1 Episode 12 entitled "Comparative Religion" (original airdate December 10th, 2009), Shirley breaks into the chorus of Jesus is a friend of mine.