A Serpent in the Pulpit Lyrics

The morning bell was chiming through the dormitory
Time for the nuns to pray the lauds
Joan's bed still empty
She ran away, trying to break free

The sisters gathered in the chapel
They felt something was wrong
With empty eyes Margaret bowed her head
"There was an accident," she said

But she was telling lies
Alice saw it in her eyes
Brazen lies without devout disguise

Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Spreading her evil sway
Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Bow to her morbid obsession with sin!

Margaret:
"There's work to do in the churchyard
Put sister Joan to rest!
Right where the bare headstone stands
Even she died by her own hands"

Oh she was telling lies
Alice saw it in her eyes
Brazen lies behind devout disguise

Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Spreading her evil sway
Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Bow to her morbid obsession with sin!

All the sisters:
Now earth to earth in convent walls, to earth in churchyard sod
You were not good enough for men and so you're given to God!
...and so you're given to God"

Lies...
Brazen lies behind devout disguise

Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Spreading her evil sway
Abbess Margaret is a serpent in the pulpit
Bow to her morbid obsession with sin!