The Court Room (Carter Clarence)

The Georgia courtoom was crowded As Ellie May took the stand She was accusing Reverend Joe Henry Of being a no good preaching man She said, the Reverend Partook of my lovely body The Reverend said, she lies The jury said, now listen I'll do the talking and The courts will justify The prosecuting attorney Started pacing the floor Sweating and making threats The judge's wife, sitting Back there in the back row Said, hey, Judge, I'll check Cause Reverend Joe Henry Is a good man He preached all over The bottom land He spoke so a Child could understand And there oughta be a Whole lot more good folks Like Reverend Joe Henry Preaching in the bottom land The jury said, shut up, Sally Will the defense take it's case Defense walked to the jury box With a stern look on his face One by one He pointed to the jurors And said, the Reverend Picked cotton by your side Blessed your child When it was born And he cried When your mama died Then he turned his back on the jury And his face was getting awful red He pounded his fists so hard He shook the room and he Whirled around and he said Lookie here, Reverend Joe Henry is a good man He preached all over The bottom land He spoke so a Child could understand And there oughta be a Whole lot more good folks Like Reverend Joe Henry Preaching in the bottom land Somebody cussed and said Hang him, he guilty The judge said, now listen here If there's one more outburst Of emotion like that I'll have this courtroom cleared Yes, I will Then the foreman Addressed the court And said, I've known the Reverend all his life He got shot up so bad Back there in the war That he couldn't even Take him a wife You know what I'm talking about Now I swore I'd never tell a soul But the Reverend's life is on the line And there ain't no way On God's green Earth that The Reverend could commit this crime Cause Reverend Joe Henry Is a good man He preached all over The bottom land He spoke so a Child could understand And there oughta be a Whole lot more good folks Like Reverend Joe Henry Preaching in the bottom land