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Man In The Long Black Coat Lyrics
Crickets are chirpin', the water is high,
There's a soft cotton dress on the line hangin' dry,
Windows wide open, African trees
Bent over backwards from a hurricane breeze.
Not a word of goodbye, not even a note,
She's 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 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
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, 'neath the high crescent moon
Feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force
Somebody is out there beating the dead horse.
She never said nothing there was nothing she wrote,
She's gone with the man
In the long black coat.
There's a soft cotton dress on the line hangin' dry,
Windows wide open, African trees
Bent over backwards from a hurricane breeze.
Not a word of goodbye, not even a note,
She's gone with the man
In the long black coat.
At the old dance hall on the outskirts of town,
He looked into her eyes when she stopped 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.
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.
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.
Tree trunks uprooted, 'neath the high crescent moon
Feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force
Somebody is out there beating the dead horse.
She never said nothing there was nothing she wrote,
She's gone with the man
In the long black coat.
Song Info
Submitted by
ecorchee1 On Jan 17, 2009
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I'm a little surprised not a singl person has commented yet. Oh well, buy the ticket, take the ride.
Anyways this piece was originally done by Bob Dylan off the album OH MERCY, but remade by Mark Lanegan for the "I'm Not There" soundtrack. There's quite a bit of speculation on who the man in the long black coat is.....some say it's death, some say its a man who killed his wife, some even say it's like an incubus-like demon coming to women to whisk them away. I personally go along with THE MAN being death. People can romanticize about death, when death to the human eyes is really the cruel personification of destruction of natural form.
In the first verse we're given a slight taste of the destruction by the imagery of the african trees bent over backwards. The next verse is the romanticism of THE MAN, and after that the third verse is your everyday preacher explaining how thing can look glorious but be devilish as well, the proverbial "Wolf In Sheep's Clothing." I personally feel unsettled with the lines "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. Brutal. Anyways, the last verse gives an idea of widespread destruction in the end, even as far as a man beating on a dead horse. In the end, we all go with The Man In The Long Black Coat.
Anyways, that's my interpretation. I could be wrong, but it's a start. I hope others will comment on this version.
This Bob Dylan song that Mark covered was one of my favourites he sang! The song is interesting and to me it depicts a woman living on her own, only one dress hanging on the line! She is lonely and longs for a better life, the hurricanes come and go in this part of her world often and she's possibly had enough of living under the constant threat of being alone and subject to elements of the weather. She has neighbours call on her occasionally but she is not often bothered with visitors as townfolk are busy bodies. She misses a time when things were lively. She goes do the dance hall alone and she is beholden to no-one although I am sure she has men folk wanting to be with her but as she is at liberty to ask men to dance i would certainly think she has no husband or boyfriend to interfere with the decisions she makes. I am also sure no-one in town has interested her as a potential partner. She is looking for something but she is not sure what. She takes a chance to ask a the traveler in the long black coat, to dance. He is a mystery, has no outward expression and is travel worn. He has piqued her interest, yet he is expressionless upon being asked if he would like to dance. I am not sure that he even took her up on the offer to dance and some gossip in town suggests he is a travelling preacher whom they have seen quoting text from a bible. Anyway suffice to say the traveller must have seen that look in her eye and the next thing she is gone from the town. Gossip has ensued for sure and I can imagine the towns folk thought she must have been either kidnapped but they are not really sure. She has not let anyone know she has gone so specualtion is high enough for the local preacher to give the townsfolk a lecture of mens intentions suggesting that the traveller has captured the girl and ran off with her. And that all men are vile and let their minds controle their actions and cause sin! I think the last verse of the song suggests that someone is looking for the lady but the search is in vain. That person was possibly someone from the town that had possibly shown an interest in her but was rejected. He is possibly piqued that she ran off with somebody else but I am sure the lady made sure she would not be found and she never left a note to let anyone know. She has either moved on with the traveller or she saw an opportunity to leave town and the traveller has provided her with an alibi without exposing her real intentions to disappear and leave the town behind.