G Bm
Well, Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
Am G
They were the best of friends
G Bm
So when Frankie Lee needed money one day
Am G
Judas quickly pulled out a roll of tens
G Bm
And placed them on a footstool
Am G
Just above the plotted plain
G Bm
Sayin', "Take your pick, Frankie Boy
Am G
My loss will be your gain"
[Verse 2]
G Bm
Well, Frankie Lee, he sat right down
Am G
And put his fingers to his chin
G Bm
But with the cold eyes of Judas on him
Am G
His head began to spin
G Bm
"Could ya please not stare at me like that," he said
Am G
"It's just my foolish pride
G Bm
But sometimes a man must be alone
Am G
And this is no place to hide"
[Verse 3]
G Bm
Well, Judas, he just winked and said
Am G
"All right, I'll leave you here
G Bm
But you'd better hurry up and choose
Am
which of those bills you want
G
Before they all disappear"
G Bm
"I'm gonna start my pickin' right now
Am G
Just tell me where you'll be"
G Bm
Judas pointed down the road
Am G
And said, "Eternity!"
[Verse 4]
G Bm
"Eternity?" said Frankie Lee
Am G
With a voice as cold as ice
G Bm
"That's right," said Judas, "Eternity
Am G
Though you might call it ‘Paradise'"
G Bm
"I don't call it anything"
Am G
Said Frankie Lee with a smile
G Bm
"All right," said Judas Priest
Am G
"I'll see you after a while"
[Verse 5]
G Bm
Well, Frankie Lee, he sat back down
Am G
Feelin' low and mean
G Bm
When just then a passin' stranger
Am G
Burst upon the scene
G Bm
Saying, "Are you Frankie Lee, the gambler
Am G
Whose father's deceased?
G Bm
Well, if you are, there's a fellow callin' you down the road
Am G
And they say his name is Priest"
[Verse 6]
G Bm
"Oh, yes, he is my friend"
Am G
Said Frankie Lee in fright
G Bm
"I do recall him very well
Am G
In fact, he just left my sight"
G Bm
"Yes, that's the one," said the stranger
Am G
As quiet as a mouse
G Bm
"Well, my message is, he's down the road
Am G
Stranded in a house"
[Verse 7]
G Bm
Well, Frankie Lee, he panicked
Am G
He dropped ev'rything and ran
G Bm
Until he came up to the spot
Am G
Where Judas Priest did stand
G Bm
"What kind of house is this," he said
Am G
"Where I have come to roam?"
G Bm
"It's not a house," says Judas Priest
Am G
"It's not a house, it's a home"
[Verse 8]
G Bm
Well, Frankie Lee, he trembled
Am G
He soon lost all control
G Bm
Over ev'rything which he had made
Am G
While the mission bells did toll
G Bm
He just stood there staring
Am G
At that big house as bright as any sun
G Bm
With four and twenty windows
Am G
And a woman's face in ev'ry one
[Verse 9]
G Bm
Well, up the stairs ran Frankie Lee
Am G
With a soulful, bounding leap
G Bm
And, foaming at the mouth
Am G
He began to make his midnight creep
G Bm
For sixteen nights and days he raved
Am G
But on the seventeenth he burst
G Bm
Into the arms of Judas Priest
Am G
Which is where he died of thirst
[Verse 10]
G Bm
No one tried to say a thing
Am G
When they carried him out in jest
G Bm
Except, of course, the little neighbor boy
Am G
Who carried him to rest
G Bm
And he just walked along, alone
Am G
With his guilt so well concealed
G Bm
And muttered underneath his breath
Am G
"Nothing is revealed"
[Harmonica Solo]
G Bm Am G x2
[Verse 11]
G Bm
Well, the moral of this story
Am G
The moral of this song
G Bm
Is simply that one should never be
Am G
Where one does not belong
G Bm
So when you see your neighbor carryin' somethin'
Am G
Help him with his load
G Bm
And don't go mistaking Paradise
Am G
For that home across the road
