The Church Boy & The Whore

[Verse 1] Come gather round good folk and hear a tale from days not long ago Of one who wore a chapel's name and one the village called a whore The church boy wore his book of rules and wore his virtue like a chain He'd learned what good men ought to be then spent his life learning it again Down the road there lived a girl the righteous loved to speak of She'd heard the name from kin and friends so left them to their tongues at will Oh the tales that people tell from tavern door to chapel bell They'll name your sin and name your soul before they've known you half as well They called him lost they called her wicked and thought the tale was theirs to write But love's a sly and stubborn thing it sneaks up with its enamoring [Verse 2] They met beneath the lantern glow and she thought well aren't you fine Then laughed and thought there'd ne'er be hope that such a man would look at mine Meanwhile he stole her phone climbed a billboard for the view And spent the night wherever she was apparently showing off would do She noticed the billboard not the rest then fate sent both their separate ways For a year or two or more for some tales take the long road round before they reach the door [Verse 3] Then came a night of darker skies when both had storms to drown By chance they met where glasses clinked and fortunes spun them round There were secrets drinks and schemes best left to wiser tongues The hour grew late the lines grew blurred and youth made fools of everyone Oh the tales that people tell if only they knew for truth My friends was rather richer than the gossip gave it due Come morning she had planned to leave before the sun grew high But fate had locked the bloody door and hidden the key nearby Two great hounds watched her scheme while freedom waited in the drive She had but one choice Wake the fool who locked the door or wake the church boy [Bridge] He rose with that wicked grin were you planning to sneak away He found the key and held the door so she had to duck beneath his arm to make her grand escape Some romances bloom with roses theirs began with a twist of fate And still they found their way back round and still they lingered near They traded dreams and ugly truths their failures and their fear She said give me something real he called her bluff she said come back and he did And somewhere in that foolish time the jest became the truth The church boy was more than chapel bells the whore was more than what they knew [Outro] Oh the tales that people tell from tavern door to chapel bell They called him lost they called her wicked and thought they knew them well But love's a sly and stubborn thing and laughs at every rule They wanted a church boy and a whore they got two beautiful fools Two beautiful fools still getting it wrong still getting it wrong Still finding reasons to stay still writing one more verse of their ridiculous song So raise your glass to the church boy and raise it to the whore To all the names the village gave and all the names they wore I cannot tell you where it ends nor can the two of them The road is long the night is young and neither means to go So if you ask me for the ending I'm afraid you'll have to wait They're still crossing their eyes and dotting their tees So fill in the blanks however you please