John Prine Jesus The Missing Years (Live) Lyrics

Jesus... the missing years

It was raining, It was cold.
West Bethlehem was no place for a twelve year old,
So He packed His bag, and He headed out
To find out what the world's about.
He went to France, He went to Spain.
He found love, He found pain.
He found stores so He started to shop,
But He had no money, so He got in trouble with a cop.
Kids in trouble with the cops
From Israel didn't have no home,
So He cut His hair and moved to Rome.
It was there He met his Irish bride,
And they rented a flat on the lower east side...
Of Rome...
Italy that is;
Music publishers, book binders, Bible belters, money changers, spoon benders, and lots of pretty Italian chicks.

Charley bought some popcorn,
Billy bought a car,
Someone almost bought the farm
But they didn't go that far,
Things shut down at midnight,
At least 'round here they do,
'Cause we all reside down the block
Inside at... 23 Skidoo.

Wine was flowing, so were beers,
So Jesus found His missing years.
He went to a dance and said "This don't move me",
So He hiked up His pants and He went to a movie.
On His thirteenth birthday He saw "Rebel Without A Cause",
He went straight on home and invented Santa Claus
Who gave Him a gift and He responded in kind.
He gave the gift of love and went out of His mind.
You see, Him and the wife wasn't gettin' along
So He took out His guitar and He wrote a song
Called "The Dove of Love Fell Off the Perch",
But He couldn't get divorced in the Catholic Church,
At least not back then anyhow.
Jesus was a good guy, He didn't need this s___,
So He took a pill with a Coca-Cola
And He swallowed it.
He discovered the Beatles
And He recorded with the Stones,
Once He even opened up a three-way package
For old George Jones

Charley bought some popcorn
Billy bought a car
Someone almost bought the farm
But they didn't go that far
Things shut down at midnight
At least around here they do
Cause we all reside down the block
Inside at... 23 Skidoo.

The years passed by like sweet little days,
With babies cryin', pork chops and beaujolais.
When He woke up, He was seventeen.
The world was angry, The world was mean.
Why the man down the street and the kid on the stoop
All agreed that life stank. All the world smelled like p___.
Baby p___ that is... the worst kind.
So He grew His hair long, and He threw away His comb,
And headed back to Jerusalem to find Mom, and Dad and home.
'Cept when he got there the cupboard was bare,
Except for an old black man with a fishing rod.
He said "Whatcha gonna be when You grow up?"
Jesus said "God".
Oh my God, what have I gotten Myself into?
I'm a human corkscrew and all My wine is blood.
They're gonna kill Me, Mama. They don't like Me, Bud.
So Jesus went to Heaven, and He went there awful quick.
All them people killed Him, and He wasn't even sick.
So come and gather around me my contemporary peers,
And I'll tell you all the story of
Jesus... The Missing Years

We all reside down the block
Inside at... 23 Skidoo