Crickets are chirpin', the water is high,nThere's a soft cotton dress on the line hangin' dry,nWindows wide open, African treesnBent over backwards from a hurricane breeze.nNot a word of goodbye, not even a note,nShe's gone with the mannIn the long black coat.nnSomebody seen him hanging aroundnAt the old dance hall on the outskirts of town,nHe looked into her eyes when she stopped to asknIf he wanted to dance, he had a face like a mask.nSomebody said from the Bible he'd quotenThere was dust on the mannIn the long black coat.nnPreacher was a talkin' there's a sermon he gave,nHe said every man's conscience is vile and depraved,nYou cannot depend on it to be your guidenWhen it's you who must keep it satisfied.nIt ain't easy to swallow, it sticks in the throat,nShe gave her heart to the mannIn the long black coat.nnThere are no mistakes in life some people saynIt is true sometimes you can see it that way.nBut people don't live or die, people just float.nShe went with the mannIn the long black coat.nnThere's smoke on the water, it's been there since June,nTree trunks uprooted, 'neath the high crescent moonnFeel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling forcenSomebody is out there beating the dead horse.nShe never said nothing there was nothing she wrote,nShe's gone with the mannIn the long black coat.