Crickets are chirpin' the water is high
There's 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 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 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

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

There's smoke on the water it's been there since June
Tree trunks uprooted beneath the high crescent moon
Feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force
Somebody is out there beating on a dead horse
She never said nothing there was nothing she wrote
She gone with the man in the long black coat


Lyrics submitted by snarflegnarfen, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Man in the Long Black Coat Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Man in the Long Black Coat song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    This is the best song Dylan had written since 'In the Garden' (overlooked track from the panned and totally ignored album 'Saved'). Yes, elements of 'paranoia' are there, but that's just the microscope talking. It's about how in the midst of destruction ( 'African Trees'/ and then 'tree-trunks uprooted'), people are unwilling to face the fact that they have to come to terms with the fact of Death (MtterOFctItsAllDrk is actually right here). Very heavy track.

    elephant_rangeon April 01, 2005   Link

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