The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
"The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" is a song on Bob Dylan's 1967 album John Wesley Harding. The plainly spoken ballad is the longest song on John Wesley Harding, without chorus, bridge, or a refrain to vary its structure. Like the rest of the album, the instrumentation is very sparse. It was recorded on October 17, 1967 in Studio A in Nashville in one take.[1] The song was the inspiration for name of the band Judas Priest.[2] It was covered by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman on their album Been All Around This World.[3]
| "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Bob Dylan | |
| from the album John Wesley Harding | |
| Released | December 27, 1967 |
| Recorded | October 17, 1967 |
| Genre | Folk rock |
| Length | 5:35 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
| Producer(s) | Bob Johnston |
The story has Frankie Lee responding to suggestions and temptations of his friend Judas Priest, which left him to die "of thirst" after sixteen nights and days in a home with twenty women. Unusually for a Dylan song, the song ends with a moral, telling the listener:
The moral of this story
The moral of this song
Is simply that one should never be
Where one does not belong.
So when you see your neighbor carryin' somethin'
Help him with his load
And don’t go mistaking Paradise
For that home across the road[4]
References
- Heylin, Clinton (2009). Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973. Chicago Review Press. p. 357. ISBN 978-1-56976-268-4.
- Konow, David (2009). Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal. Crown. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-307-56560-0.
- Dansby, Andrew (December 11, 2003). "New Garcia, Grisman Due". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
- "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
