Be No Church Tonight

Words by Woody Guthrie

Preacher Bill came to our house
One Sunday bright and fine;
To fill his belly with sweet potatoes,
Biscuits, chicken and wine.

He took our Nelly back of the barn
And carried on a sight;
I heard him whisper in her ear,
“There’ll be no church tonight!”

Chorus:
“There’ll be no church tonight, my dear,
There’ll be no church tonight!
One more kiss from your red lips,
And there’ll be no church tonight!”

While peeking through my knothole
I seen him take her hand,
Put his head upon her bosom
And called it the Promised Land,

The Mountains of Life and Glory’s Hills,
As he touched her leg so light;
He gasped for air and said a prayer,
“There’ll be no church tonight!”

(Chorus)

She lay on a pile of hay
And gently closed her eyes,
She said the words of the Twenty-Third Psalm
To the good Lord in the skies;

What I seen through that knothole
I cannot sing or write;
But now I know the reason why
There’ll be no church tonight!

(Chorus)