Intro
| C | Em | Dm | C |
(guitar)
| C | Em/B | Dm/A | C/G |
[Verse 1]
C Em/B
Well, Frankie Lee and Judas Priest,
Dm/A C/G
They were the best of friends.
C Em/B
So when Frankie Lee needed money one day,
Dm/A C/G
Judas quickly pulled out a roll of tens
C Em/B
And placed them on a footstool
Dm/A C/G
Just above the plotted plain,
C Em/B
Sayin', "Take your pick, Frankie Boy,
Dm/A C/G
My loss will be your gain."
[Verse 2]
C Em
Well, Frankie Lee, he sat right down
Dm/F C/G
And put his fingers to his chin,
C Em
But with the cold eyes of Judas on him,
Dm | C/G 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."
[Verse 3]
C Em/B
Well Judas, he just winked and said,
Dm/A C/G
"All right, I'll leave you here,
C Em/B
But you'd better hurry up and choose
Dm/A C/G
Which of those bills you want before they all disappear."
C Em/B
"I'm gonna start my pickin' right now,
Dm/A C/G
Just tell me where you'll be."
C Em/B
Judas pointed down the road
Dm/A C/G
And said eternity,
[Verse 4]
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/G
Said Frankie Lee with a smile.
C Em
"All right," said Judas Priest,
Dm C
"I'll see you after a while."
[Verse 5]
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 Em
Well, if you are, There's a fellow callin' you down the road
Dm C
And they say his name is Priest."
[Verse 6]
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."
[Verse 7]
C Em/B
Well, Frankie Lee, he panicked,
Dm/A C/G
He dropped ev'rything and ran
C Em/B
Until he came unto the spot
Dm/A C/G
Where Judas Priest did stand.
C Em/B
"What kind of house is this," he said,
Dm/A C/G
"Where I have come to roam?"
C Em/B
"It's not a house," says Judas Priest,
Dm/A C/G
"It's not a house, it's a home."
[Verse 8]
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/B
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.
[Verse 9]
C Em
Well, up the stairs ran Frankie Lee
Dm/A 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.
[Verse 10]
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/G
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."
[Solo] (harp)
| C | Em/B | Dm/A | C/G |
| C | Em/B | Dm/A | C/G |
[Verse 11]
C Em
Well, the moral of the story,
Dm C/G
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.
[Outro] (harp)
| C | Em | Dm | C |
| C | Em | Dm | C |
| C | Em/B | Dm/A | C/G |
| C | Em | Dm | C |
(fade out over last four chords)