Man In the Long Black Coat

Crickets are chirpin'
The water is high
There's a soft cotton dress on the line hangin' dry
Windows wide open
African trees are bent over backwards from 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 hanging 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 is dust on the man in the long black coat

Preacher was a talkin', there's a sermon he gave
He said, "Every 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 is true sometimes, you can see it that way
But 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 beneath the high crescent moon
Feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force
Somebody is out there beating on the dead horse

She never said nothing, there was nothing she wrote
She's gone with the man in the long black coat