Crickets are chirpin' The water is high There's a soft cotton dress On the line hangin' dry The window's wide open, African trees Bent over backwards From a hurricane breeze Not a word of goodbye, not even a note She gone with the man in the long black coat Somebody's singin', 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 Sombody said from the bible he'd quote There was dust on the man in the long black coat Preacher was a-talkin', there's a sermon he gave He said every mans conscience is vile and depraved You cannot depend on it to be your guide
When it's 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 could see it that way Well, people don't live or die, people just float She went with the man in the long black coat There is smoke on the water, it's a-been there since june Tree trunks uprooted 'neath the high crescent moon Feel 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 just gone with the man in the long black coat