|
He rode easy in the saddle, he was tall and lean |
|
At first you thought nothing but a streak of mean |
|
Could make a man look so downright strong |
|
But one look in his eyes and you knowed you was wrong |
|
He was a mountain of a man |
|
And I want you to know he could preach hot hell or freezin' snow |
|
He carried a Bible in a canvas sack |
|
And folks just called him The Reverend Mr. Black |
|
He was poor as a beggar |
|
But he rode like a king |
|
Sometimes in the evening |
|
I could hear him sing |
|
"I got to walk that lonesome valley |
|
I got to walk it by myself |
|
Oh, nobody else can walk it for me |
|
I got to walk it by myself" |
|
If ever I could have thought that this man in black |
|
Was soft and had any yellow up his back |
|
I gave that notion up the day |
|
A lumberjack came in and it wasn't to pray |
|
Yeah, he kicked open the meeting house door |
|
And he cussed everybody up and down the floor |
|
And then when things got quiet in the place |
|
He walked up and cussed in the preacher's face |
|
He hit that Reverend like a kick of a mule |
|
And to my way of thinkin' it took a pure fool |
|
To turn the other cheek to that lumberjack |
|
But that's what he did, The Reverend Mr. Black |
|
He stood like a rock, a man among men |
|
Then he let that lumberjack hit him again |
|
And then with a voice as kind as could be |
|
He cut him down like a big oak tree when he said |
|
"You've got to walk that lonesome valley |
|
You've got to walk it by yourself |
|
Oh, nobody else can walk it for you |
|
You've got to walk it by yourself" |
|
It's been many years since we had to part |
|
And I guess I learned his ways by heart |
|
I can still hear his sermons ring |
|
Down in the valley where he used to sing |
|
I followed him, "Yes, sir", and I don't regret it |
|
Hope that I'll always be a credit to his memory |
|
'Cause I want you to understand |
|
The Reverend Mr. Black was my old man |
|
You've got to walk that lonesome valley |
|
You've got to walk it by yourself |
|
Oh, nobody else can walk it for you |
|
You've got to walk it by yourself |
|
You've got to walk that lonesome valley |
|
You've got to walk it by yourself |
|
Oh, nobody else can walk it for you |
|
You've got to walk it by yourself |
