Long Black Veil

Ten years a-go on a cold dark night,

Some one was killed ‘neath the Town Hall light

The peo-ple who saw they all a-greed

That the slay-er who ran

looked a lot like me.

The judge said, “son, what is your al-i-bi?

If you were some-wheres else,

then you won't have to die”.

I spoke not a word, though it meant my life,

For I'd been in the arms

of my best friend's wife.

She walks these hills in a long black veil,

Vis-its my grave when the night winds wail,

No-bod-y knows, no-bod-y sees,

No-bod-y knows, but me.

The scaffold is high, eternity near,
She stands in the crowd, she sheds not a tear,
But sometimes at night, when the cold winds moan,
In a long black veil she cries o'er my bones.

She walks these hills in a long black veil,
Visits my grave when the night winds wail,
Nobody knows, nobody sees,
Nobody knows, but me.