The Long Black Veil

He was hanged over ten years ago but I can still remember the feel of his hands on my skin. His eyes would shine a brilliant blue brimming with love as we lay tangled in the sheets of my bed. He loved me with all his heart and that love for me killed him. He was with me when the man was killed but because he loved me he told no one and because I was weak, I stayed silent and watched as they hanged him in the town square. He was a good man. I wish I could have been a better woman, so I put on my veil and walk the hills where he is buried, it is the least I can do. I may not have loved him in life, but I can love him in death.



Long Black Veil

Ten years ago on a cool dark night
There was someone killed 'neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene and they all did agree
That the man who ran looked a 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 although 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 where the night winds wail
Nobody knows, no, and nobody sees
Nobody knows but me

The sky froze high and eternity neared
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold wind moans
In a long black veil she cries over my bones

By Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin