New Riders of the Purple Sage
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LONG BLACK VEIL

(M.J. WILKIN AND D.DILL)

TEN YEARS AGO ON A COOL DARK NIGHT
SOMEONE WAS KILLED
'NEATH THE TOWN HALL LIGHT
THERE WERE FEW AT THE SCENE
BUT THEY ALL AGREED
THAT THE SLAYER WHO RAN
LOOKED AN AWFUL LOT LIKE ME

THE JUDGE SAID "SON, WHAT IS YOUR ALIBI?
IF YOU WERE SOMEWHERE ELSE,
THEN YOU WON'T HAVE TO DIE"
I SPOKE NOT A WORD , ‘THOUGH IT MEANT MY LIFE
I HAD BEEN IN THE ARMS OF MY BEST FRIEND'S WIFE

SHE WALKS THESE HILLS IN A LONG BLACK VEIL
SHE VISITS MY GRAVE WHEN THE NIGHT WINDS WAIL
NOBODY KNOWS, NOBODY SEES
NOBODY KNOWS BUT ME

THE SCAFFOLD WAS HIGH AND ETERNITY NEARED
SHE STANDS IN THE CROWD AND SHEDS NOT A TEAR
BUT SOMETIMES AT NIGHT
WHEN THE COLD WIND MOANS
IN A LONG BLACK VEIL
SHE CRIES OUT OVER MY BONES

SHE WALKS THESE HILLS IN A LONG BLACK VEIL
SHE VISITS MY GRAVE WHENTHE NIGHT WINDS WAIL
NOBODY KNOWS, NOBODY SEES
NOBODY KNOWS BUT ME

Appears on Gypsy Cowboy