The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
Well, Frankie Lee and Judas PriestThey were the best of friendsSo when Frankie Lee needed money one dayJudas quickly pulled out a roll of tensAnd placed them on a footstoolJust above the plotted plainSayin’, “Take your pick, Frankie BoyMy loss will be your gain”
Well, Frankie Lee, he sat right downAnd put his fingers to his chinBut with the cold eyes of Judas on himHis head began to spin“Would ya please not stare at me like that,” he said“It’s just my foolish prideBut sometimes a man must be aloneAnd this is no place to hide”
Well, Judas, he just winked and said“All right, I’ll leave you hereBut you’d better hurry up and choose which of those bills you wantBefore they all disappear”“I’m gonna start my pickin’ right nowJust tell me where you’ll be”Judas pointed down the roadAnd said, “Eternity!”
“Eternity?” said Frankie LeeWith a voice as cold as ice“That’s right,” said Judas Priest, “EternityThough you might call it ‘Paradise’”“I don’t call it anything”Said Frankie Lee with a smile“All right,” said Judas Priest“I’ll see you after a while”
Well, Frankie Lee, he sat back downFeelin’ low and meanWhen just then a passing strangerBurst upon the sceneSaying, “Are you Frankie Lee, the gamblerWhose father is deceased?Well, if you are, there’s a fellow callin’ you down the roadAnd they say his name is Priest”
“Oh, yes, he is my friend”Said Frankie Lee in fright“I do recall him very wellIn fact, he just left my sight”“Yes, that’s the one,” said the strangerAs quiet as a mouse“Well, my message is, he’s down the roadStranded in a house”
Well, Frankie Lee, he panickedHe dropped ev’rything and ranUntil he came up to the spotWhere Judas Priest did stand“What kind of house is this,” he said“Where I have come to roam?”“It’s not a house,” said Judas Priest“It’s not a house . . . it’s a home”
Well, Frankie Lee, he trembledHe soon lost all controlOver ev’rything which he had madeWhile the mission bells did tollHe just stood there staringAt that big house as bright as any sunWith four and twenty windowsAnd a woman’s face in ev’ry one
Well, up the stairs ran Frankie LeeWith a soulful, bounding leapAnd, foaming at the mouthHe began to make his midnight creepFor sixteen nights and days he ravedBut on the seventeenth he burstInto the arms of Judas PriestWhich is where he died of thirst
No one tried to say a thingWhen they took him out in jestExcept, of course, the little neighbor boyWho carried him to restAnd he just walked along, aloneWith his guilt so well concealedAnd muttered underneath his breath“Nothing is revealed”
Well, the moral of the storyThe moral of this songIs simply that one should never beWhere one does not belongSo when you see your neighbor carryin’ somethin’Help him with his loadAnd don’t go mistaking ParadiseFor that home across the road
Read more: http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/ballad-frankie-lee-and-judas-priest#ixz...