Man In The Long Black Coat

Joan Osborne

Crickets are chirpin' the water is high



There's a soft cotton dress on the line hangin' dry



Window's wide open African trees



Bent over backwards in a hurricane breeze



Not a word a goodbye not even a note



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



Somebody seem 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 quote



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 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 give 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 give 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 vibrations and the rumblin' force



Somebody's out there beating on a dead horse



She never said nothin', there was nothin' she wrote



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