Crickets are chirping, the water is high There's a soft cotton dress, sunlight ain't

dry The window's wide open, African trees

Bent over backwards 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's 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 was dust on the man in the long black coat

The preacher was talking, 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

One, two, 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 gave her heart to 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 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

She's gone with the man in the long black coat

She's gone, she's gone

Gone with the man in the long black coat

Gone with the man in the long black coat

Gone with the man in the long black coat