Philemon - He's Coming / Antioch Prison Lyrics

Off-Broadway revival in 1991
Philemon the Musical - He's Coming/ Antioch Prison Lyrics

Tom Jones performed He's Coming/ Antioch Prison from Philemon.

PRISONERS (Whispered):
He's coming!
He's coming!
He's coming!
He's coming! He's coming!

PRISONER 1:
He's coming, he's coming,
I sense it everywhere!

PRISONER 2:
He's coming, he's coming,
I feel it in the air!

PRISONER 1:
Someone to be the leader

PRISONER 2:
Someone to set us free!

PRISONERS:
He's coming!

PRISONER 3:
He's coming, he's coming,
the word is all around!

PRISONER 4:
He's coming, he's coming,
a new and joyous sound!

PRISONER 3:
Someone to be the teacher

PRISONER 4:
Someone to lead the way

PRISONERS:
He's coming!

PRISONER 3:
Philemon!

PRISONER 1:
Philemon!

PRISONERS:
How that name lights up the darkness

PRISONER 2:
Philemon!

PRISONER 4:
Philemon!

PRISONERS:
How that name drives out the terror
Philemon will soon be coming
He will take us from this place
Can't you feel the heartbeats humming?
Can't you feel the state of grace?
Philemon!

He's coming, he's coming
He's coming, he's coming
He's coming, he's coming
He's coming...

NARRATOR (spoken):
Antioch Prison
Already ancient in an ancient time
The walls are cool and tomblike, wet
The pitiful graffiti streaked with rivulets of sweat
What do they say,
These desperate scratchings on the wall?

FEMALE PRISONER:
Mother...

NARRATOR (spoken):
That's probably the most common

PRISONERS:
Mother...
Mother...
Mother...

NARRATOR (spoken):
Another favorite:

MALE PRISONER:
The food in here tastes like shit

NARRATOR (spoken):
Sometimes they're religious

ANOTHER FEMALE PRISONER:
O God, have mercy on my soul
Forgive me for my blindness in the days when I had eyes

NARRATOR (spoken):
Sometimes they're defiant

ANOTHER FEMALE PRISONER:
Pigs! Pigs!
Dirty little pigs!
Cowards, bastards, butchers, swine!
Pig, pig, pig, pig, pig, pig, pig, pig!

Philemon the Musical Lyrics

PLOT
Within This Empty Space
He's Coming / Antioch Prison
The Greatest of These