|
The moral questions raised in this song are both fascinating and mind-boggling. One of the most important lines in this song is when the stranger comes and asks Frankie if he is "Frankie Lee, who's father is deceased" which seems to mean the absence of divinity, or god in Frankie Lee's life. Judas Priest embodies sin and temptation in all forms, including greed, envy, and lust. Judas priest promises paradise, or "eternity," which he claims are the same, although we learn later in the song they are very different things. Frankie Lee is first drawn to the house when a stranger tells him that Judas Priest is trapped down the road, inside a house, and Frankie rushes to his aid. Upon arriving at the house, he finds Judas outside, and sees twenty four prostitutes within. As Frankie Lee enters the house, the listener is provided with the most sensory-laden description of his failure to resist sinful temptation when Dylan states, "up the stairs ran Frankie Lee, with a soulful bounding leap, and foaming at the mouth, he began to make his midnight creep." Eventually Frankie Lee dies of thirst, which is extremely symbolic because water often symbolizes divinity in biblical texts. So, Frankie Lee literally dies from the absence of purity in his life, immediately after he partakes in sixteen days of sin. It is also very signifigant he dies only after he bursts into Judas Priests arms, meaning he dies only after he has submitted himself to a life of temptation and evil. When we learn that Frankie Lee was carried out of the house, or away from his earthly form, "in jest," we understand that Judas Priest finds pleasure in the demise of those who he has lured away from goodness. However, the truth is that Judas Priest did not kill Frankie Lee, he only brought the temptations into his sight, from where Frankie makes his own decisions. We must take this into account, because while we would like to blame Judas Priest for Frankie Lee's death, we must ultimately accept the fact that Frankie Lee chose his own fate, and therefore carries sole responsibility for his own downfall. |
