Twelve Good Men
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Version 1 is a full studio recording
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Something New Under The Son [Special edition cassette]
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Version 2 is a live band recording, from the Flevo Totaal Festival in Holland in 1989. Larry is backed by the Finnish band Q-Stone, and his brother Charles
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Version 3 is a studio recording, likely a live rehearsal of the song
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Version 4 is a live recording, performed with a full band in Sweden, in 1993
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lyrics version 1
Twelve good men take one [Spoken]
One [Spoken]
I got my black leather jacket
The one I've worn through all my youth
I got my dark sunglasses
I feel just like William Booth
Don't ask me nothing 'bout nothing
I just might tell you the truth
Well you need twelve good men
And I can only find eleven
There are six young lions
And I'm waiting for number seven
I may be living on earth
But I am living for heaven
I got a woman I'm in love with
There's no need to say her name
And no matter what might happen
You know I'll love her just the same
Well it's like meeting an angel from heaven
There's not a lot you can explain
Take it Randy, take it Jonny
You know a man with a woman
Is a mystery like a hawk
Or an eagle in the sky
Or a serpent on a rock
Well I can't say I understand it
But that's the way kings used to talk
And if this song sounds familiar
That's because it's already been done (Yeah)
Yes I wrote this song down
Just the way I heard it sung
You should know by my last album
There's nothing new under the sun
The truth is like a flame
I heard that from Rambling Jack
He said the truth is not a lie
Just like white cannot be black
(Let me try again)
And the truth is Bobby stole this song from the bluesmen
And now I'm trying to steal it back
Love you Bobby, love you
I got my black leather jacket
The one I kept all of my youth, yeah
And I got these dark sunglasses
I feel just like William Booth
I'm just warning you, don't ask me nothing 'bout nothing
I just might tell you the truth
One [Spoken]
I got my black leather jacket
The one I've worn through all my youth
I got my dark sunglasses
I feel just like William Booth
Don't ask me nothing 'bout nothing
I just might tell you the truth
Well you need twelve good men
And I can only find eleven
There are six young lions
And I'm waiting for number seven
I may be living on earth
But I am living for heaven
I got a woman I'm in love with
There's no need to say her name
And no matter what might happen
You know I'll love her just the same
Well it's like meeting an angel from heaven
There's not a lot you can explain
Take it Randy, take it Jonny
You know a man with a woman
Is a mystery like a hawk
Or an eagle in the sky
Or a serpent on a rock
Well I can't say I understand it
But that's the way kings used to talk
And if this song sounds familiar
That's because it's already been done (Yeah)
Yes I wrote this song down
Just the way I heard it sung
You should know by my last album
There's nothing new under the sun
The truth is like a flame
I heard that from Rambling Jack
He said the truth is not a lie
Just like white cannot be black
(Let me try again)
And the truth is Bobby stole this song from the bluesmen
And now I'm trying to steal it back
Love you Bobby, love you
I got my black leather jacket
The one I kept all of my youth, yeah
And I got these dark sunglasses
I feel just like William Booth
I'm just warning you, don't ask me nothing 'bout nothing
I just might tell you the truth
lyrics version 2
I see the American flag. I see the Dutch flag. I see U2's flag. And people always say why doesn't a christian brother and his band cross over and talk about Jesus? And I see U2's flag, and I say it's been done. Bob Dylan did it. We didn't like it, we told him to stop, we didn't believe him. U2's done it. Some of us say well they're not doing it enough. Hey look, they're them, you're you, I'm me. If you don't think they're doing it right then let's go fill in for them. Let's not leave it up to Billy Graham to come out here. Let's not leave it up to U2 to come out here. Let's not leave it up to Bob Dylan to raise up.... Let's go ourselves. Go into the world and preach the gospel. Jesus said I need twelve good men. [Music starts] That's all you need. [Spoken]
Just a little handful of true believers, spirit receiver [Half sung]
I need twelve good men
I can only find eleven
And there are six young lions
I'm still waiting for number seven
I may be living here down on earth
But I am living for heaven
I got a woman I'm in love with
There's no need to say her name, yeah yeah yeah
And no matter what happens baby
I'm gonna lo-ove you just the same
You know love is like seeing an angel from heaven
Love is so hard to explain
Take it Charley, take it Hessi [Referring to Heikki Silvennoinen]
Yeah yeah yeah
I've got this black leather jacket
The one I've had through all my youth
I've got these dark sunglasses
I feel just like William Booth, yeah yeah yeah
A-don't ask me nothing 'bout nothing
I just might tell you the truth
Oh-ah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Wo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-wo-oh-oh
Just a little handful of true believers, spirit receiver [Half sung]
I need twelve good men
I can only find eleven
And there are six young lions
I'm still waiting for number seven
I may be living here down on earth
But I am living for heaven
I got a woman I'm in love with
There's no need to say her name, yeah yeah yeah
And no matter what happens baby
I'm gonna lo-ove you just the same
You know love is like seeing an angel from heaven
Love is so hard to explain
Take it Charley, take it Hessi [Referring to Heikki Silvennoinen]
Yeah yeah yeah
I've got this black leather jacket
The one I've had through all my youth
I've got these dark sunglasses
I feel just like William Booth, yeah yeah yeah
A-don't ask me nothing 'bout nothing
I just might tell you the truth
Oh-ah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Wo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-wo-oh-oh
lyrics version 3
Two three four [Spoken]
You need twelve good men
And I can only find eleven yeah-eh
There are six young lions
But I'm still waiting for number seven
I may be living on earth
But I am living for heaven
Well man with a woman
Is like a lizard on a rock
Yeah something something something
I can't remember what I had here right, I had totally better lyrics. Eh [Spoken]
Well I don't say I understand it
That's the way Solomon used to talk
Yeah
Allright lowve
Weh-ah yeah yo
Oh-an-wo-an-lo-aaah
Yeah
Allright, that sounds good
Woo-hoo
I got my black leather jacket
The one I wore through all my youth
Hmmm, I've got my dark sunglasses
Man I feel just like William Booth
Yeah baby, don't ask me nothing 'bout nothing
I just might tell you the truth
OK that sounds good. Eh but let me go get those other lyrics an' an' we'll do it again [Spoken]
You need twelve good men
And I can only find eleven yeah-eh
There are six young lions
But I'm still waiting for number seven
I may be living on earth
But I am living for heaven
Well man with a woman
Is like a lizard on a rock
Yeah something something something
I can't remember what I had here right, I had totally better lyrics. Eh [Spoken]
Well I don't say I understand it
That's the way Solomon used to talk
Yeah
Allright lowve
Weh-ah yeah yo
Oh-an-wo-an-lo-aaah
Yeah
Allright, that sounds good
Woo-hoo
I got my black leather jacket
The one I wore through all my youth
Hmmm, I've got my dark sunglasses
Man I feel just like William Booth
Yeah baby, don't ask me nothing 'bout nothing
I just might tell you the truth
OK that sounds good. Eh but let me go get those other lyrics an' an' we'll do it again [Spoken]
lyrics version 4
You need twelve good men
I can only find eleven
There are six young lions
I'm still waiting for number seven
I may be living down here on earth
But I am living for heaven
I got a woman I'm in love with
There's no need to say her name
And no matter what might happen
I'm gonna love her just the same
It's like meeting an angel from heaven
Love is so hard to explain
Allright
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
I got a black leather jacket
The kind I worn through all my youth
When I wear dark sunglasses
I feel just like William Booth
Hey man, don't ask me nothing 'bout nothing
I just might tell you the truth
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah-ah
I can only find eleven
There are six young lions
I'm still waiting for number seven
I may be living down here on earth
But I am living for heaven
I got a woman I'm in love with
There's no need to say her name
And no matter what might happen
I'm gonna love her just the same
It's like meeting an angel from heaven
Love is so hard to explain
Allright
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
I got a black leather jacket
The kind I worn through all my youth
When I wear dark sunglasses
I feel just like William Booth
Hey man, don't ask me nothing 'bout nothing
I just might tell you the truth
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah-ah
This song borrows quite heavily from Bob Dylan's 'Outlaw Blues', from his Subterranean Homesick Blues. The groove and melody are similar, and Larry uses or adapts several lyrics: 'I got my dark sunglasses', 'Don't ask me nothin' 'bout nothin', I just might tell you the truth' and 'I got a woman in Jackson, I ain't gonna say her name, She's a brown-skin woman, But I love her just the same'.