The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest

Chords

Standard

C               Em
Well, Frankie Lee and Judas Priest,
     Dm                        C
They were the best of friends.
        C                  Em 
So when Frankie Lee needed money one day,
      Dm                                C
Judas quickly pulled out a roll of tens
    C                    Em
And placed them on a footstool
     Dm                      C
Just above the plotted plain,
        C                Dm
Sayin', "Take your pick, Frankie Boy,
   Em                       C
My loss will be your gain."

      C               Em
Well, Frankie Lee, he sat right down
            Dm                   C
And put his fingers to his chin,
    C                        Em
But with the cold eyes of Judas on him,
    Dm                  C
His head began to spin.
       C                         Em
"Could ya please not stare at me like that," he said,
      Dm                     C 
"It's just my foolish pride,
    C                       Em
For sometimes a man must be alone
    Dm                         C 
And this is no place to hide."

     C              Em
Well Judas, he just winked and said,
         Dm                     C 
"All right, I'll leave you here,
C                             Em
But you'd better hurry up and choose
                         Dm                      
Which of those bills you want,
                             C
Before they all disappear."
 C                  Em
"I'm gonna start my pickin' right now,
     Dm                        C 
Just tell me where you'll be."

C                      Em
Judas pointed down the road
         Dm        C 
And said eternity,
 C               Em
"Eternity?" said Frankie Lee,
Dm                      C 
With a voice as cold as ice.
 C                          Em
"That's right," said Judas, "Eternity,
           Dm                         C 
Though you might call it 'Paradise.'"

 C                          Em
"I don't call it anything,"
     Dm                         C 
Said Frankie Lee with a smile.
 C                Em
"All right," said Judas Priest,
 Dm                           C 
"I'll see you after a while."

 C                    Em
Well, Frankie Lee, he sat back down,
Dm                    C 
Feelin' low and mean,
C                        Em
When just then a passing stranger
Dm                    C 
Burst upon the scene,
C                                 Em
Saying, "Are you Frankie Lee, the gambler,
      Dm                  C 
Whose father's deceased?
C                                 
Well, if you are,
          Em
There's a fellow callin' you down the road
         Dm                       C 
And they say his name is Priest."

 C                 Em
"Oh, yes, he is my friend,"
     Dm                       C 
Said Frankie Lee in fright,
 C               Em
"I do recall him very well,
   Dm                            C 
In fact, he just left my sight."
 C                              Em
"Yes, that's the one," said the stranger,
   Dm                C 
As quiet as a mouse,
 C                         Em
"Well, my message is, he's down the road,
Dm                    C 
Stranded in a house."

C                  Em
Well, Frankie Lee, he panicked,
           Dm                  C 
He dropped ev'rything and ran
C                       Em
Until he came unto the spot
      Dm               C 
Where Judas Priest did stand.
C                      Em
"What kind of house is this," he said,
 Dm                          C 
"Where I have come to roam?"
 C                       Em
"It's not a house," says Judas Priest,
            Dm                    C 
"It's not a house, it's a home."

 C                    Em
Well, Frankie Lee, he trembled,
   Dm                     C 
He soon lost all control
 C                    Em
Over everything which he had made
Dm                          C 
While the mission bells did toll.
C                   Em
He just stood there staring
                     Dm            C
At that big house as bright as any sun,
C                    Em
With four and twenty windows
      Dm                      C
And a woman's face in every one.

C                       Em
Well, up the stairs ran Frankie Lee
       Dm                      C
With a soulful, bounding leap,
C                   Em
And, foaming at the mouth,
            Dm                      C
He began to make his midnight creep.
C                      Em
For sixteen nights and days he raved,
    Dm                      C
But on the seventeenth he burst
C                Em
Into the arms of Judas Priest,
         Dm                      C
Which is where he died of thirst.

C               Em
No one tried to say a thing
          Dm                      C
When they carried him out in jest,
C                      Em
Except, of course, the little neighbour boy
Dm                       C
Who carried him to rest.
    C                    Em
And he just walked along, alone,
         Dm                       C
With his guilt all well concealed,
C                 Em
And muttered underneath his breath,
 Dm                    C
"Nothing is revealed."

C                      Em
Well, the moral of the story,
    Dm            C
The moral of this song,
C                         Em
Is simply that one should never be
      Dm                   C
Where one does not belong.
C                                       Em
So when you see your neighbour carryin' somethin',
Dm                C
Help him with his load,
    C                  Em
And don't go mistaking Paradise
         Dm                   C
For that home across the road.