Stan Ridgway - The Man In The Long Black Coat lyrics

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