Elzie Banks - Loretta Lynn

There’s an old time preacher named Elzie Banks

And he tells it like it is

He said you can’t be good, if you’re a little bit bad

'Cause the devil knows you’re his

And when preach yourself fire and brimstone

You can almost see the flames

When he says you walk them golden streets

Ten thousand angels sing

He’ll break ice on the river

In the middle of the wintertime

And say, come on, sister, wade on in

The water’s mighty mighty fine

He’d raise one hand toward the heaven

And then he’d say, «Let's pray

Come on, Lord, let’s show this world

We’re gonna drown the old devil today»

And we’ll say, come on children

Let your little light shine on the mountain top

We’ll get a kick out of watching the devil

Setting him stumbling blocks

This world is the devil’s playground

And I hate to hear what the devil say

He’s the hardest worker in this world

He works twenty-five hours a day

Preacher Elzie keep on a-preachin'

He never let your people down

I missed the old camp meeting time

And dinner on the ground

He’s an old time gospel preacher

And he preaches the gospel free

The mountain people need him

And they love him just like me

Lord, I wouldn’t be caught dead

Without my Jesus to hold on to

If you don’t know your Lord today

Tomorrow, he won’t know you

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in heaven

I strongly believe in saving

Are the TV preachers losing souls

For the bank accounts they’re saving?

And we’ll say, come on children

Let your little light shine on the mountain top

We’ll get a kick out of watching the devil

Setting him stumbling blocks

This world is the devil’s playground

And I hate to hear what the devil say

He’s the hardest worker in this world

He works twenty-five hours a day