Young man—
Young man—
Your arm's too short to box with God

But Jesus spake in a parable, and he said:
A certain man had two sons
Jesus didn't give this man a name
But his name is God Almighty
And Jesus didn't call these sons by name
But ev'ry young man
Ev'rywhere
Is one of these two sons

And the younger son said to his father
He said: Father, divide up the property
And give me my portion now
And the father with tears in his eyes 'said: Son
Don't leave your father's house
But the boy was stubborn in his head
And haughty in his heart
And he took his share of his father's goods
And went into a far-off country

There comes a time
There comes a time
When ev'ry young man looks out from his father's house
Longing for that far-off country
And the young man journeyed on his way
And he said to himself as he travelled along:
This sure is an easy road
Nothing like the rough furrows behind my father's plough

Young man—
Young man—
Smooth and easy is the road
That leads to hell and destruction
Down grade all the way
The farther you travel, the faster you go
No need to trudge and sweat and toil
Just slip and slide and slip and slide
Till you bang up against hell's iron gate

And the younger son kept travelling along
Till at night-time he came to a city
And the city was bright in the night-time like day
The streets all crowded with people
Brass bands and string bands a-playing
And ev'rywhere the young man turned
There was singing and laughing and dancing
And he stopped a passer-by and he said:
Tell me what city is this?
And the passer-by laughed and said: Don't you know?
This is Babylon, Babylon
That great city of Babylon
Come on, my friend, and go along with me
And the young man joined the crowd
Young man—
Young man—
You're never lonesome in Babylon
You can always join a crowd in Babylon
Young man—
Young man—

You can never be alone in Babylon
Alone with your Jesus in Babylon
You man never find a place, a lonesome place
A lonesome place to go down on your knees
And talk with your God, in Babylon
You're always in a crowd in Babylon

And the young man went with his new-found friend
And bought himself some brand-new clothes
And he spent his days in the drinking-dens
Swallowing the fires of hell
And he spent his nights in the gambling-dens
Throwing dice with the devil for his soul
And he met up with the women of Babylon
Oh, the women of Babylon !
Dressed in yellow and purple and scarlet
Loaded with rings and earrings and bracelets
Their lips like honeycomb dripping with honey
Perfumed and sweet-smelling like a jasmine flower;
And the jasmine smell of the Babylon women
Got in his nostrils and went to his head
And he wasted his substance in riotous living
In the evening, in the black and dark of night
With the sweet-sinning women of Babylon
And they stripped him of his money
And they stripped him of his clothes
And they left him broke and ragged
In the streets of Babylon
Then the young man joined another crowd—
The beggars and lepers of Babylon
And he went to feeding swine
And he was hungrier than the hogs;
He got down on his belly in the mire and mud
And ate the husks with the hogs
And not a hog was too low to turn up his nose
At the man in the mire of Babylon

Then the young man came to himself—
He came to himself and said:
In my father's house we many mansions
Ev'ry servant in his house has bread to eat
Ev'ry servant in his house has a place to sleep;
I will arise and go to my father
And his father saw him afar off
And he ran up the road to meet him
He put clean clothes upon his back
And a golden chain around his neck
He made a feast and killed the fatted calf
And invited the neighbours in

Oh-o-oh, sinner
When you're mingling with the crowd in Babylon—
Drinking the wine of Babylon—
Running with the women of Babylon—
You forget about God, and you laugh at Death
To-day you've got the strength of a bull in your neck
And the strength of a bear in your arms
But some o' these days, some o' these days
You'll have a hand-to-hand struggle with bony Death
And Death is bound to win

Young man, come away from Babylon
That hell-border city of Babylon
Leave the dancing and gambling of Babylon
The wine and whisky of Babylon
The hot-mouthed women of Babylon;
Fall down on your knees
And say in your heart:
I will arise and go to my Father