James Weldon Johnson - The Prodigal Son lyrics

Young man— Young man— Your arm's too short to box with God But Jesus spake in a parable, and he said: A certain man had two sons Jesus didn't give this man a name But his name is God Almighty And Jesus didn't call these sons by name But ev'ry young man Ev'rywhere Is one of these two sons And the younger son said to his father He said: Father, divide up the property And give me my portion now And the father with tears in his eyes 'said: Son Don't leave your father's house But the boy was stubborn in his head And haughty in his heart And he took his share of his father's goods And went into a far-off country There comes a time There comes a time When ev'ry young man looks out from his father's house Longing for that far-off country And the young man journeyed on his way And he said to himself as he travelled along: This sure is an easy road Nothing like the rough furrows behind my father's plough Young man— Young man— Smooth and easy is the road That leads to hell and destruction Down grade all the way The farther you travel, the faster you go No need to trudge and sweat and toil Just slip and slide and slip and slide Till you bang up against hell's iron gate And the younger son kept travelling along Till at night-time he came to a city And the city was bright in the night-time like day The streets all crowded with people Bra** bands and string bands a-playing And ev'rywhere the young man turned There was singing and laughing and dancing And he stopped a pa**er-by and he said: Tell me what city is this? And the pa**er-by laughed and said: Don't you know? This is Babylon, Babylon That great city of Babylon Come on, my friend, and go along with me And the young man joined the crowd Young man— Young man— You're never lonesome in Babylon You can always join a crowd in Babylon Young man— Young man— You can never be alone in Babylon Alone with your Jesus in Babylon You man never find a place, a lonesome place A lonesome place to go down on your knees And talk with your God, in Babylon You're always in a crowd in Babylon And the young man went with his new-found friend And bought himself some brand-new clothes And he spent his days in the drinking-dens Swallowing the fires of hell And he spent his nights in the gambling-dens Throwing dice with the devil for his soul And he met up with the women of Babylon Oh, the women of Babylon ! Dressed in yellow and purple and scarlet Loaded with rings and earrings and bracelets Their lips like honeycomb dripping with honey Perfumed and sweet-smelling like a jasmine flower; And the jasmine smell of the Babylon women Got in his nostrils and went to his head And he wasted his substance in riotous living In the evening, in the black and dark of night With the sweet-sinning women of Babylon And they stripped him of his money And they stripped him of his clothes And they left him broke and ragged In the streets of Babylon Then the young man joined another crowd— The beggars and lepers of Babylon And he went to feeding swine And he was hungrier than the hogs; He got down on his belly in the mire and mud And ate the husks with the hogs And not a hog was too low to turn up his nose At the man in the mire of Babylon Then the young man came to himself— He came to himself and said: In my father's house we many mansions Ev'ry servant in his house has bread to eat Ev'ry servant in his house has a place to sleep; I will arise and go to my father And his father saw him afar off And he ran up the road to meet him He put clean clothes upon his back And a golden chain around his neck He made a feast and k**ed the fatted calf And invited the neighbours in Oh-o-oh, sinner When you're mingling with the crowd in Babylon— Drinking the wine of Babylon— Running with the women of Babylon— You forget about God, and you laugh at d**h To-day you've got the strength of a bull in your neck And the strength of a bear in your arms But some o' these days, some o' these days You'll have a hand-to-hand struggle with bony d**h And d**h is bound to win Young man, come away from Babylon That hell-border city of Babylon Leave the dancing and gambling of Babylon The wine and whisky of Babylon The hot-mouthed women of Babylon; Fall down on your knees And say in your heart: I will arise and go to my Father