Crickets are chirping

The water is high

There’s a soft cotton dress on the line

Hang dry

The window’s wide open

African trees

Bent over backwards

In a hurricane breeze



Not a word of goodbye

Not even a note

She’s gone with the man in the

Long black coat



Somebody seen him

Hangin’ around

At the old dance hall

On the outskirts of town

He looked into her eyes

When she stopped him to ask

If he wanted to dance

He had a face like a mask

Somebody said

From the bible he quote

There was dust on the man in the

Long black coat

Preacher was talking

There’s a sermon he gave

Said every man’s conscience

Is vile and deprave

You can not depend on it

To be your guide

When it’s you

Who must keep it satisfied



It ain’t easy to swallow

It sticks in the throat

She gave her heart to the man in the

Long black coat



One, two

There are no mistakes in life

Some people say

It’s true sometimes

You can see it that way

People don’t live or die

People just float

She gave her heart to the man in the

Long black coat



There’s smoke on the water

It’s been there since June

Tree trunks uprooted

In the high crescent moon

Hear the pulse

And vibration

And the rumblin’ force

Somebody’s out there

Beating on a dead horse



She never said nothin’

There was nothin’ she wrote

She’s gone with the man in the

Long black coat

She’s gone with the man in the

Long black coat

She’s gone

She’s gone

Gone with the man in the

Long black coat

Gone with the man in the

Long black coat