Download "So Long, Reverend Ike"

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You always kept your habits clean
You tried to teach me virtue
A little passion couldn't hurt you

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     "So Long, Reverend Ike" was an unreleased incomplete demo song from the early 1970s that was finally released as a bonus track (via iTunes) for My Lives in 2005. It is a breezy melodic song with a biting commentary about organized religion. Too bad it was never completed as this song reflects Billy at his finest, a sardonic social commentary accompanied by an irresistible melody.

     Some radio stations banned "Only The Good Die Young" in 1977 for religious reasons. Imagine how they would have reacted to "So Long, Reverend Ike" had it been released in the early 1970s.

    Reverend Ike refers to Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, also known as "Reverend Ike,” an unorthodox and flamboyant evangelist who was popular in the early to mid 1970's.  See the Wikipedia entry.

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So Long, Reverend Ike   <<              >>
(My Lives bonus track on iTunes) (2005)  (recorded early 1970s)

So long, Sister Jean
You always kept your habits clean
You tried to teach me virtue
A little passion couldn't hurt you

Goodbye, Father John
I never quite felt like your son
It's a tax-free situation
It looks like half the congregation's gone
I'm afraid that I've gone with them, Father John

So long, Rabbi Gold
You wanted more than just my soul
You said "God keeps his eye on
Those who send their bucks to Zion"

Goodbye, Rabbi Gold
When did you start to lose control?
My circumcision grieves me
Kosher dinners always leave me cold
So goodbye, a man l'chaim Rabbi Gold

So long, Reverend Ike
You were so unreal
All you could tell me was heaven and hell
And Norman Vincent Peale

So long, Reverend Ike
Goodbye, Billy Graham
Cardinal Cooke in his latest book on the holy land

Goodbye, Brother Cooke--

I don't have any more than that. We can keep that for, uh--(on an AM play)--oh, yeah, right, well I gotta have one of them, man.

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