Jerry Reed
"The Preacher And The Bear" lyrics

The Preacher And The Bear

Yeah
Here come the preacher
Ha, ha

Well, the preacher went out a hunting
It was on one Sunday morn
It was against his religion
But he took a shotgun along
He got him a mess of mighty fine quail
And one old scraggly hare
But on the way home he crossed the path
Of a great big grizzly bear

Well, the bear got down
Looked ready to charge
The preacher never seen nothing
Quite that large
They looked each other
Right smack in the eye
Didn't take that preacher
Long to say bye

The preacher he run
Till he spotted a tree
He said, "Up in that tree's
Where I oughta be"
By the time that bear
Made a grab for him
The preacher was a sitting
On top a that limb
Scared to death
He turned about
He looked to the sky
And began to shout

Hey Lord
You delivered Daniel
From the bottom of the lion's den
You delivered Jonah
From the belly of the whale and then
The Hebrew children from the fiery furnace
So the good books do declare
Hey Lord
If you can't help me
For goodness sake don't help that bear

Yeah
Look out preacher

Well, about that time the limb broke off
And the preacher come a tumbling down
Had a straight razor out of his pocket
About the time he lit on the ground
He landed on his feet right in front a that bear
And Lord, what an awful fight
The preacher and the bear
And the razor and the hair
Just a flying from left to right

Well, at first they was up
Snd then they was down
The preacher and the bear
Running round and round
The bear he roared
Snd the the preacher he groaned
Having a tough time
A holding his own

He said, "Lord if I
Get outta here alive
Then to the good book I'll abide
No more hunting on the Sabbath day
Come Sunday I'm heading
To the church to pray"
Up to the heavens
The preacher glanced
Said, "Lord won't you give me
Just one more chance"
So the preacher got away
He looked around
Seen a tree where he'd be
Safe and sound
Jumped on a limb
Turned about
Looked to the sky
And began to shout

Hey Lord
You delivered old Daniel
From the bottom of the lion's den
You delivered Jonah
From the belly of the whale and then
The Hebrew children from the fiery furnace
So the good books do declare
Hey Lord
If you can't help me
Don't do nothing for that bear

No, get outta here, bear
Lord, do something for me
And forget that bear

I'm telling you
He's big
Look at the size of that thing
Whoa
Get what are you
Get off this tree
Lord, help me
Are you kidding me
With the size of that bear?