The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest

[Verse 1] Well, Frankie Lee and Judas Priest They were the best of friends So when Frankie Lee needed money one day Judas quickly pulled out a roll of tens And placed them on a footstool Just above the plotted plain Saying, “Take your pick, Frankie Boy My loss will be your gain” [Verse 2] Well, Frankie Lee, he sat right down And put his fingers to his chin But with the cold eyes of Judas on him His head began to spin “Would ya please not stare at me like that,” he said “It’s just my foolish pride But sometimes a man must be alone And this is no place to hide” [Verse 3] Well, Judas, he just winked and said “All right, I’ll leave you here But you’d better hurry up and choose which of those bills you want Before they all disappear” “I’m gonna start my picking right now Just tell me where you’ll be” Judas pointed down the road And said, “Eternity!” [Verse 4] “Eternity?” said Frankie Lee With a voice as cold as ice “That’s right,” said Judas Priest, “Eternity Though 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” [Verse 5] Well, Frankie Lee, he sat back down Feeling low and mean When just then a passing stranger Burst upon the scene Saying, “Are you Frankie Lee, the gambler Whose father is deceased? Well, if you are, there’s a fellow calling you down the road And they say his name is Priest” [Verse 6] “Oh, yes, he is my friend” Said Frankie Lee in fright “I do recall him very well In fact, he just left my sight” “Yes, that’s the one,” said the stranger As quiet as a mouse “Well, my message is, he’s down the road Stranded in a house” [Verse 7] Well, Frankie Lee, he panicked He dropped everything and ran Until he came up to the spot Where 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” [Verse 8] Well, Frankie Lee, he trembled He soon lost all control Over ev’rything which he had made While the mission bells did toll He just stood there staring At that big house as bright as any sun With four and twenty windows And a woman’s face in ev’ry one [Verse 9] Well, up the stairs ran Frankie Lee With a soulful, bounding leap And, foaming at the mouth He began to make his midnight creep For sixteen nights and days he raved But on the seventeenth he burst Into the arms of Judas Priest Which is where he died of thirst [Verse 10] No one tried to say a thing When they took him out in jest Except, of course, the little neighbor boy Who carried him to rest And he just walked along, alone With his guilt so well concealed And muttered underneath his breath “Nothing is revealed” [Verse 11] Well, the moral of this story The moral of this song Is simply that one should never be Where one does not belong So when you see your neighbor carrying something Help him with his load And don’t go mistaking Paradise For that home across the road