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
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 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