Reverend Joe Henry

Now the Georgia courtroom was crowded Ellie May took the stand She was accusing the Reverend Joe Henry of bein' a no good preachin' man Yes she was She said the Reverend partook of my lovely body The Reverend said Judge she lied The judge said listen I��ll do the talkin' and the court's gonna justify Yes they will Well the prosecutin' attorney started pacin' the floor Sweatin' and makin' threats The fella sittin' next to me said I know that preacher's guilty And they ain't even tried him yet I said Son the Reverend Joe Henry's a good man And he preached all over the bottom land He spoke so a child could understand There oughta be a whole lot more good folks like the Reverend Joe Henry A preachin' in the bottom land Well the judge called the court to order said defense will ya state your case That defense lawyer walked to the jury box had a stern look on his face One by one he pointed to the jury said the Reverend picked cotton by your side He blessed your children the day they was born and he cried when your mama died I seen him oh oh Lord God Somebody cussed said hang him he's guilty the judge said now listen here One more outbreak of emotion like that in this courtroom and I��ll just have it cleared Yes I will Then the foreman addressed the court said I've known the Reverend all his life Said he got shot up so bad back there in the war that he couldn't even take him a wife Now ya all know what I'm talkin' about don'tcha Well I swore I'd never tell a soul but his life is layin' on the line But there ain't no way on God's green earth that the Reverend could've done this crime The Reverend Joe Henry's a good man And he preached all over the bottom land Spoke so a child could understand There oughta be a whole lot more good folks like the Reverend Joe Henry Preachin' in the bottom land Folks Ellie May just folded like a chair fainted dead in her tracks Ellie May I don��t believe I'da told that on him