bruce springsteen
if i was the priest
Part of the Hammond demos. (recorded by Allan Clarke on solo album in 1975) written by Bruce Well there's a light on yonder mountain And it's calling me to shine There's a girl over by the water fountain And she's asking to be mine And ain't that Jesus, he's standing in the doorway With a buckskin jacket, boots and spurs, so really fine He says "We need you up in Dodge City, son 'Cause there's oh so many bad boys (just too many outlaw) Tryin' to work the same line" Well now if Jesus was the sheriff and I were the priest If my lady was an heiress and my mama was a thief Oh and Papa rode shotgun for the Fargo line There's still too many outlaws Tryin' to work the same line Now old sweet Virgin Mary She runs the Holy Grail saloon Where for a nickel they'll give you whisky And the personally blessed balloon And the Holy Ghost, he's the host with the most He runs the burlesque show Where they let you in for free But oh hit you for your soul when you go And Mary serves Mass on Sunday And then she sells her body on Monday To the bootlegger who will pay the highest price But he don't know he got stuck with a loser Mary's a stone junkie, what's more she's a boozer And she's only been made once or twice By some kind of magic Well things ain't been the same in Heaven Ever since big bad Bobby came to town He's been known to down eleven And then ask for another round And me I got scabs on my knees From kneeling way too long I gotta take a stand, be the man, up where you belong And forget about the old friends and the old times Because there's just too many new boys Tryin' to work the same line Well now if Jesus was the sheriff and I were the priest If my lady was an heiress and my mama was a thief Oh and Papa rode shotgun for the Fargo line There's still too many bad boys Tryin' to work the same line Now there's a light on yonder mountain And it's calling me to shine There's a girl by the water fountain And she's asking to be mine And Jesus, he's standing in the doorway With his six-guns drawn, and ready to fan He says "We need you son, up in Dodge City" But I'm already overdue in Cheyenne