Crickets are chirpin'

The water is high

There's a soft cotton dress

On the line hangin' dry

The windows wide open

African trees

Bent over backward

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 dancehall

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 quoth

There was dust on the man

In the long black coat





Preacher was talkin'

There's a sermon he gave

He said, "Every man's conscience

Is vile & depraved.

You cannot 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





"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 left with 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 & vibration

And the rumbling force

Somebody's out there

Beating on a dead horse

She never said nothing

There was nothing she wrote

She's gone with the man

In the long black coat