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The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest by Bob Dylan - Guitar Chords

Version 1
            The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest - Bob Dylan
From: John Wesley Harding (1967)

The acoustic on Dylan's recording is played using G-shapes + capo 5th fret.
So, for the original sound, transpose this chord sheet -5 and use a capo 5th fret.

The bass often does not play the regular root; the bass notes are included here 
after the chord names. Playing alone, they can either be left out or included 
into the chords (some welcome colours in a long song).

no capo             capo 5
Em/B  x-2-x-0-0-0   Bm/F# 2-x-4-4-3-2
Dm/A  x-0-x-2-3-1   Am/E  0-x-2-2-1-0
C/G   3-x-2-0-1-0   G/D   x-x-0-0-0-3
Dm/F  x-x-3-2-3-1   Am/C  x-3-2-2-1-0


[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)
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