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The Man In The Long Black Coat

Bob Dylan © 1989 Special Rider Music

(Official lyrics @ www.bobdylan.com)


29 Mar 1989
OH MERCY
CHRONIQUES VOLUME 1

Oh Mercy session 11, The Studio, New Orleans LA - 29.mar.1989, overdub 4.apr.1989  

Crickets are chirpin', the water is high
There's a soft cotton dress on a line hangin' dry
The window's wide open, African trees
Bend over backwards from a hurricane breeze
Not a word of goodbye, not even a note
She'd gone with the man in the long black coat.

Somebody's seen 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'd quote
There was dust on the man in the long black coat.

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
An' it's true sometimes, you can see that way
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 a-been there since june
Tree trunks uprooted neath the high crescent moon
Feel the pulse and vibration an' the rumblin' force
Somebody is out there beatin' on a dead horse.
She never said nothin', there was nothin' she wrote
She gone with the man in the long black coat. 
    

Recording dates & record list

29 Mar 1989 1 OH MERCY
CHRONIQUES VOLUME 1
12 Jan 1990 TOAD'S PLACE VOL. 1 (bootleg)
29 June 1991 THE NEVER ENDING TOUR (bootleg)
MIDFYN (bootleg)
16 Feb 1994 THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY (bootleg)
20 Apr 1996 THE MAINE EVENT (bootleg)
19 Dec 1997 OH BABE IT AIN'T NO LIE (bootleg)
DON'T BE LATE (bootleg)