Man In The Long Black Coat 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 good-bye not even a note She's gone with the man in the long black coat Somebody's 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'd quote There was dust on the man in the long black coat Preacher was talkin' there's a sermon he gave He said 'Ev'ry man's conscience is vile and 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 The people don't live or die People just float She went 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 and vibration and 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