Man in the Long Black Coat Lyrics
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, note even a note,
She 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 gone with the man
In the long black coat.
The first stanza brings a feeling of a small Soutern community, maybe somewhere near New Orleans? It is a prequel of what happens in the song.
Contrary to popular belief, i think the man in the long black coat is not Death, or Satan, or even dark at all. He hangs around the outskirts. I think he is a loner, a journeyman, someone who travels without a home. The dust on is coat further symbolizes travel; the Grim Reaper would never be seen with a dirty cloak. The face like a mask shows that he has seen so much in his life that emotion has worn thin,like a man weary of so much experience.
I dont have much to say about the preacher.
There are no mistakes in life. The journeyman took her with him, but not for a dark purpose. I think he saved her life.
Treetrunks uprooted, smoke on water,added to the first stanza's mention of urricane breezes,makes me believe that something horrible hapened to the place where the girl lived. Maybe there was a storm and everything was destroyed,all her family died except for her,because the man saved her. "Beating on a dead horse" means that a particular conversation has ended, and coupled with the lines about her not speaking, probably means that she never told anybody about what had happened.
The lone journeyman, in a dusty blackcoat, knew that this town was going to be destroyed. He couldn't save the town,but one girl invited him to dance, and so she was the one he led away. It was no mistake that she survived,and when he brought her back, she was distrought, demanding to know why she had been the one saved, and not her friends and family. But he was silent, resolutein his decision. He left, and she never told anyone what had happened.
I found out my own interpretation throgh this paragraph :
I found out my own interpretation throgh this paragraph :
"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.... "
"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.... "
The man in the long black coat renounces to his own conscience ("cannot depend on it to be your guide" ), because he saw in himself, like in others, "vileness and depravation". It´s hard to accept that truth for the young ( innocent) woman, but she goes with him, with the man that...
The man in the long black coat renounces to his own conscience ("cannot depend on it to be your guide" ), because he saw in himself, like in others, "vileness and depravation". It´s hard to accept that truth for the young ( innocent) woman, but she goes with him, with the man that doubt. There is some resignation when she goes, but also some kind of kidnapping, she left no "note even a note", not enthusiasm to go with him...
For me, the man in the long black coat and the young ( innocent) woman are, both the same person: Robert Zimmerman, he and his soul. Two aspects: the innocent soul - and the slynees soul contaminate for the world. Robert Zimmermann had always a mask to protect himself "he had a face like a mask" that´s why his lyrics have always a secret to reveal; a Robert Zimmermann behind Bob Dylan. BasilMelmothon March 19, 2014
Here's my interpretation:
There are crickets. The crickets are chirping. There's water. The water is high. There's a dress. The dress is made out of cotton. It is soft. It's on a clothesline. It's dry. There's a window. It's open. Wide. There are trees. They are Africa. They are bent over as a result of strong winds from a hurricane. There's was a woman there, but she left. She didn't say goodbye to anybody, or leave behind a note regarding her destination or when she could be expected to return. She left there with a man. The man was wearing a coat. The coat is long and black.
It's a bit of a stretch, but it works for me.
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.
this song to me is very fleeting. meaning is not all to clear but this is what i think it is.
basically to me the man in the long black coat is death.(cliched after reading all other posts i know but yeah!)
the 1st stanza paints a story of death in the town, (cotton dress hanging dry, bent over backwards from the hurricane breeze). the lady departed with death,(gone with the man in the long black coat)
somebody's seen him hangin' around-death is looming and is round the corner(outskirts of town)
he had a face like a mask- no-one has seen death personified, i think it would have a stern~austere face. There was dust on the man-dust cause he's travelled around leaving with other people whose time had arrived, or not.
sermon he gave- admonishing the dying or enlightening the dead about how they lived life. i personally thought this was an extremely heavy stanza cause the whole idea about your conscience being vile but at the same time you having to satisfy it is very paradoxical.
It ain't easy to swallow, it sticks in the throat,-death is hard to swallow, its hard to accept death. acceptance is the last stage in the 5 stages of death.
She went with the man In the long black coat.-yet everyone dies in the end
There are no mistakes in life some people say It is true sometimes you can see it that way. -pretty true,many people believe this,specially beauty pageant winners who say "i would change nothing in my life, i learnt from my mistakes, made me a better person!!!"
But people don't live or die, people just float.-brilliant,i think this is dylan trying to infuse his philosophy into the song a little. brilliant.
She went with the man In the long black coat-again everyone dies
There's smoke on the water, it's been there since June,-death has always been around, or maybe the lady he talks about started showing symptoms 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.-death is out there looming and becomes clear slowly.
She never said nothing there was nothing she wrote, She gone with the man In the long black coat. -i think instead of the idea that she was murdered by the man in the long black coat, nothing she wrote meaning no-one knows when they are going to pass?
this was a great song, and yes, the man in the long black coat is death. song is about someone who is mourning this girl or woman. dylan's rendition has sorrowful horns, french horns?, accompanying the lyrics. pulse and vibration, rumbling force, someone is out there beating on a dead horse...reveals someone's sorrow and incomprehension on coming to grips with the loss of this woman....
this was a great song, and yes, the man in the long black coat is death. song is about someone who is mourning this girl or woman. dylan's rendition has sorrowful horns, french horns?, accompanying the lyrics. pulse and vibration, rumbling force, someone is out there beating on a dead horse...reveals someone's sorrow and incomprehension on coming to grips with the loss of this woman....
I'm not a Dylan fan so I came to this song via Steve Hackett's Wild Orchids album.
Going through these lyrics the meaning just struck me: The man in the long black coat is a tornado.
Years of trying to decypher Gene Wolfe novels have finally paid off! :-)
The man in the long black coat could be anyone or anything.The protagonists are the woman and the man/life/reality she leaves behind. Its her house/town that's being described It's her that approaches him to dance It's her conscience that has being tested. I think it talks about the "rebellion of consciousness" as most of his work does. It is about a person, that rebels against his own "reality". A reality that contradicts with its real needs and therefore, consciousness. The man in the long black coat is an opportunity for something new.Her sudden and unexpected love for him ,symbolizes the leap she has to make against logic and normality and the distance she has to draw from her previous unsatisfactorily life.
there is no point in keep hitting our dead horses, is there now?
[Edit: spelling]
I enjoy the Joan Osborne cover better, but the story is the same. I really think this song is about a girl who kills herself or is murdered.
The lyrics are pretty sub-Dylan-par until you get to the breathtaking second half of the bridge: People don't live or die/People just float. That's incredible, seeing human life through almost an alien's perspective.
But now that I re-read the lyrics, they're actually all pretty damn good. He sings it too choppily on Oh Mercy, maybe. The song's worth it just for that amazing bridge, though.
The man in the long black coat is death.
@MtterOFctItsAllDrk /I had the same thought. Someone has to read the bible to find that passage about the dust on the coat.
@MtterOFctItsAllDrk /I had the same thought. Someone has to read the bible to find that passage about the dust on the coat.
I think this song referes to the early stages of delisional paranoia...Or maybe not so paranoid..