Crickets are chirpin, the water is high,
Theres a soft cotton dress on the line hangin dry,
Windows wide open, African trees
Bent over backwards from a hurricane breeze.
Not a word of goodbye, not even a note,
Shes gone with the man
In the long black coat.
Somebody seen him hanging around
At the old dance hall on the outskirts of town,
He looked into her eyes when she stopped to ask
If he wanted to dance, he had a face like a mask.
Somebody said from the Bible hed quote
There was dust on the man
In the long black coat.
Preacher was a talkin theres a sermon he gave,
He said every mans conscience is vile and depraved,
You cannot depend on it to be your guide
When its you who must keep it satisfied.
It aint easy to swallow, it sticks in the throat,
She gave her heart to the man
In the long black coat.
There are no mistakes in life some people say
It is true sometimes you can see it that way.
But people dont live or die, people just float.
She went with the man
In the long black coat.
Theres smoke on the water, its been there since June,
Tree trunks uprooted, neath the high crescent moon
Feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force
Somebody is out there beating the dead horse.
She never said nothing there was nothing she wrote,
Shes gone with the man
In the long black coat.