Prester John In Appalachia

A stranger came into these hills singing funny songs
And carrying a Christian poem, a thousand pages long
He opened up the poem, said his name was Prester John
And read right through suppertime and finished up at dawn

Prester John in Appalachia come to baptize you and me
In the Mighty Diamond River, in The Land Beyond The Sea
He carried Christ before him from the day that he was born
And I loved to hear him preach, and I loved to share his corn

He went up on King Mountain there to share his Christian poem
To those who whipped up Ferguson and sent the Brits back home
He'd get the folk all in a frenzy every Sunday morn'
And they'd pay him every Sunday night with liquor made of corn

Prester John in Appalachia come to baptize you and me
In the Mighty Diamond River, in The Land Beyond The Sea
He carried Christ before him from the day that he was born
And I loved to hear him preach, and I loved to share his corn

The day he left the mountain, you know, something in us died
And the womenfolk looked real sad, the men stood around and cried
That Sunday morning came along and everyone looked blue
For he took with him our innocence, and all our whisky too

Prester John in Appalachia come to baptize you and me
In the Mighty Diamond River, in The Land Beyond The Sea
He carried Christ before him from the day that he was born
And I loved to hear him preach, and I loved to share his corn

Prester John in Appalachia come to baptize you and me
In the Mighty Diamond River, in The Land Beyond The Sea
He carried Christ before him from the day that he was born
And I loved to hear him preach, and I loved to share his corn