Elzie Banks

(album: Who Was That Stranger - 1988)

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-preaching
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