The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest Lyrics
They were the best of friends
So when Frankie Lee needed more 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."
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."
"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."
And said, "Eternity."
"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".
FeelinG low and mean
When just then a passing stranger
Burst upon the scene
Saying, "Are you Frankie Lee, the gambler
Whose father's deceased?
Well, if you are
There's a fellow calling you down the road
And they say his name is Priest."
"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 quit as a mouse,
"Well, my message is, he's down the road
Stranded in a house."
He dropped everything and ran
Until he came up to the spot
Where Judas Priest did stand
"What kind of a 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."
He soon lost all control
Over ev'rything which he had made
While the mission bells did toll
He just stood there starring
At that big house as bright as any sun
With four and twenty windows
And a woman's face in every one.
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.
When they carried him out in jest
Except of course, the little neighbor boy
Who carried him to rest
And he just walked along alone
Whit his guilt so well concealed
And muttered underneath his breath
"Nothing is revealed."
The moral of the song
Is simply that one should never be
Where ones 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
The house is a trap. We are to not want for worldly desires. They will trap us.
You sell your soul for a couple bills, and you've mistaken eternity for the house of pleasures.
This world is the house of pleasures, but they are quick to fade. They are false. They are attachment to this world.
yes yes....you just needed reminding...and then 'drifters escape'-thank you Mr Bob
yes yes....you just needed reminding...and then 'drifters escape'-thank you Mr Bob
the heavy metal band "Judas Priest" is named after this song
I've been teaching this song to my sophomore college literature classes for about fifteen years, and I have some ideas. Judas is of course Judas Iscariot, but his role as the betrayer of Jesus is not what's important here; he was also the treasurer of the Apostles, the fellow who held all the worldly possessions, and it is this role which seems to be important in this poem (he's got the roll of tens). The fact that he's a "priest" means that this role has been taken to religious extremes. When Judas leaves and Frankie sits back down, a stranger...
I've been teaching this song to my sophomore college literature classes for about fifteen years, and I have some ideas. Judas is of course Judas Iscariot, but his role as the betrayer of Jesus is not what's important here; he was also the treasurer of the Apostles, the fellow who held all the worldly possessions, and it is this role which seems to be important in this poem (he's got the roll of tens). The fact that he's a "priest" means that this role has been taken to religious extremes. When Judas leaves and Frankie sits back down, a stranger "bursts" upon the scene (the same word, bursts, is used to describe the moment of death for Frankie Lee when he emerges, dessicated, from the house/ home of earthly delights (24 windows may refer to the hours in the day). This indicates that bursts is associated closely (metonymically) with death... and the stranger who shows up (just above the "plotted" plains, the cemetary), may be death (who is always a stranger because we onl;y meet him once; and the only two things he knows about Frankie Lee are that he's a gambler (with his soul? he's broke, remember) and that his father has already died. Anyway, it's a poem about the shortcomings of pursuing a material and sensual existence without a spiritual basis (remember, Bob Dylan was suing his manager, Albert Grossman, for taking more than Bob Dylan believed grossman should have been taking from Dylan as his manager and that on the album John Wesley harding, the song "Dear Landlord" is also addressed to Grossman. Hope this helps.
Very interesting and erudite analysis. Many insights that are helpful to me. The world can use more folk like yourself teaching literature at all academic levels. Thank you for this.
Very interesting and erudite analysis. Many insights that are helpful to me. The world can use more folk like yourself teaching literature at all academic levels. Thank you for this.
well frankie lee and judas priset, although being the best of friends seem to be opposites. frankie the gambler, who's father is deceased... Judas, who quickly pulled out a roll of tens and said 'my loss will be your gain'...
so my real question for this, is what is the house? i see it as either a bordello or a church. both could have 4 and 20 women's face in every one (stained glass images vs whores)... perhaps it was the church, and judas died from not drinking the holy water -- but would frankie lee run up the stairs of a church in soulful bounding leaps ? i think not. perhaps he spent all his time getting off he forgot to drink....but why would judas find himself at a bordello ?
either way, the most important person in this song is the little neighbour boy that carried frankie lee to rest.... why is he guilty? perhaps for writing a song where nothing is revealed ?
good moral though... and I suppose it reveals everything that need be revealed, we should help the neighbour boy carry frankie lee in jest. i imagine there two houses facing eachother -- both the bordello and church -- neither of them is paradise, but both of which can be considered home.
read my post about the neighbour boy
read my post about the neighbour boy
"With four and twenty windows And a woman's face in ev'ry one." I recall a nursery ryme that goes: "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie." can this house be the pie and the women are the blackbirds baked into it? If Frankie Lee died of thirst, then he too was "baked" into it. There was also a book written titled: "four and twenty blackbirds" written by someone named "Priest" though I don't know the date it was originally published. Also 24 is considered an unlucky number in Cantonese culture because its pronounication is similar to that of "easy to die". I doubt if this has any real signifigance though. I'm researching this further and will post new facts as I discovery them.
I know why the boy is guilty lyrics "When just then a "little" passing stranger Burst upon the scene"
little isnt in the lyrics but if you listen to recordings on youtube its there http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoiEePKCmek the little stranger is the little neighbour boy then it goes "Except of course, the little neighbor boy Who carried him to rest And he just walked along alone Whit his guilt so well concealed And muttered underneath his breath "Nothing is revealed"." the boys is guilty because he told Frankie to find judas
Very interesting point, so who would be more guilty, the neighbor boy who fetches frankie for judas or judas for steering frankie to temptation and sin? Or maybe the neighbor boy is guilty for seeing what is happening to Frankie and doing nothing about it? Maybe the neighbor boy thought Frankie was in paradise and that's why he chose to do nothing about it.
Very interesting point, so who would be more guilty, the neighbor boy who fetches frankie for judas or judas for steering frankie to temptation and sin? Or maybe the neighbor boy is guilty for seeing what is happening to Frankie and doing nothing about it? Maybe the neighbor boy thought Frankie was in paradise and that's why he chose to do nothing about it.
Maybe that's why Dylan chooses to say, "when you see a neighbor carrying something, help him with his load," this could be proof of the little neighbor boys guilt in the story, because the neighbor boy did nothing to help Frankie carry his load.
Maybe that's why Dylan chooses to say, "when you see a neighbor carrying something, help him with his load," this could be proof of the little neighbor boys guilt in the story, because the neighbor boy did nothing to help Frankie carry his load.
@stevethehorse Maybe the little neighbour boy feels guilty because he too was at the brothel (or house of pleasure).
@stevethehorse Maybe the little neighbour boy feels guilty because he too was at the brothel (or house of pleasure).
I like to rank my favorite Dylan albums, but when I listen to know album I don't know where to put it because I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK HE'S TALKING ABOUT. Is it good? Maybe? I don't know. This is probably the best song on the album? Or is it? I have no idea.
@FootOfPride my first reaction was to ridicule you but who am I to do so, especially when that’s one of the joys of listening to Dylan, literally 15 yrs later you’ll either find something new you always missed or find that you still enjoy hunting for an answer, especially when “Nothing is revealed”
@FootOfPride my first reaction was to ridicule you but who am I to do so, especially when that’s one of the joys of listening to Dylan, literally 15 yrs later you’ll either find something new you always missed or find that you still enjoy hunting for an answer, especially when “Nothing is revealed”
I don't have analysis, I just wanted to remark the lines
Judas pointed down the road And said, "Eternity" "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"
Are truly remarkable in my souls opinion
Frankie lee is duped into making a deal with (to him) an unrecognizable evil. I believe dylan purposely portrays frankie and judas as good friends in the first couple stanzas in order to drive home the point that those close to you, whom you would least expect, can you lead you into the most evil of deeds. In my opinion the line "It's not a house, its a home," is an overlooked deceptive description of a whore house in which judas priest (dylan) is subliminally telling frankie (or the listener) that the bad habbits taking place at the whore house can become his own. We usually describe other people's "homes" as a "house" and only when speaking of our own house do we actually use the term "home."
As far as the neighbor boy, I believe he represents youth and innocence. He recognized the true evil that judas is supposed to represent, hence his guilt over frankie's death and hence the reason he assumes the chore of carrying his body.
Guys.I think the meaning of the song Is not about why the boy is guilty or what is the house.The point is Dylan is trying to retell a story of un-bible using his own prediction storymode.In the Bible,we know that Judas betrayed Jesus because of money.But in this story,the characters switch places.The Judas is now a Priest,in other word,a saint like Jesus.We can see a graphic scene on the last few verse of this song,which describes “Frankie Lee died of thirst in the arms of Judas.” Which is quite familiar with the painting of St.Maria and the dying Jesus.We can tell that Bob Dylan is trying to rename Judas,make him become a god who “ And he just walked along, alone With his guilt so well concealed And muttered underneath his breath Nothing is revealed” See? The him here is Judas,he is trying the hide the sin of Murder Jesus.Why? Cause “ Judas pointed down the road And said, eternity Eternity, said Frankie Lee With a voice as cold as ice That's right, said Judas Priest, eternity Though you might call it 'Paradise“ That is the reason.I think I am explaining this quite clear.
Well the last verse implies that Dylan wants you to explore the world and not just stay in the same place all the time.
But all the lyrics before that verse have pretty much nothing to do with that...
Another Dylan mystery song!
Still a great song and I love the ironic connotation it has.