Jesus Is Just Alright - DC Talk's Version

DC Talk's Version

"Jesus Is Just Alright" is a Dove Award-winning single by Christian rock and hip hop band, DC Talk. It was the lead single for their 1992 platinum-selling and Grammy Award-winning album, Free at Last. The band's primary songwriter, TobyMac (Toby McKeehan), retained the song's chorus but added a number of new verses consisting of his own lyrics. These lyrics were rapped, as was usual with DC Talk's songs of the period, with the lead vocal alternating between McKheehan's rapped verses and the sung chorus provided by Kevin Max (then known as Kevin Smith) and Michael Tait.

DC Talk's version also includes subtle lyric alterations, with the line "Jesus is just alright" being intermittently changed to "Jesus is still alright". Thus, DC Talk's recording can be seen as something of an update on the previous version. McKeehan changed the line in an attempt to express his feeling that Jesus was still alright with him even if many others did not share his beliefs. The song's lyrics also comment on the lack of acceptance and recognition that faith-based music often receives from mainstream radio. In addition to being musically based upon the earlier Byrds and Doobie Brothers' recordings, DC Talk's version of the song also features samples of Madonna's hit single "Vogue" and the Snap! song "The Power".

In the audio commentary of the Free at Last – The Movie bonus DVD, Tait identified "Jesus Is Just Alright" as the song that DC Talk have performed most in their live shows. It has been played at every concert since 1992 and is the only song to be played on each of their four major headlining tours: Free At Last (1994), Jesus Freak – The Tour (Spring 1996), The Supernatural Experience (Spring 1999), and An Evening with DC Talk (Spring 2001).

The song's music video was shot entirely in muted sepia-tone and featured DC Talk singing around three crosses in a desert, surrounded by musicians and dancers. It concludes with the band walking off into the desert sunset.

At the 24th GMA Dove Awards in 1994, "Jesus Is Just Alright" was awarded the Dove Award for Best Rock Recorded Song. DC Talk also became one of the first contemporary Christian acts to perform on late-night television when, in late 1993, the band performed "Jesus Is Just Alright" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.