crickets are chirping the water is high theres a soft cotton dress on the line hangin dry window wide open african trees bent over backwards from a hurricane breeze not a word of goodbye not even a note she 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 hed quote there was dust on the man in the long black coat preacher was a talkin theres a sermon he gave he said every mans conscience is vile and depraved you cannot depend on it to be your guide when its you who must keep it satisfied it aint 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 theres smoke on the water its been there since june tree trunks uprooted neath the high crescent moon feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force somebody is out there beating a dead horse she never said nothing there was nothing she wrote she gone with the man in the long black coat4