Reverend Mr. Black

He rode easy in the saddle
He was tall and lean
And at first you'd have thought
Nothing but a streak of
Mean could make a man look
So down right strong
But one look in his eyes and
You knew you were wrong
He was a mountain of a man
And I want you to know
He could preach hot hell or freezing 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'd hear him sing

I've got to walk that lonesome valley
I've got to walk it by myself
Oh, nobody else can walk it for me
I got to walk it by myself
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

If ever I could have thought
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
Then, when things got quiet in the place
He walked up and cusses
In the preacher's face
He hit that Reverend like a kick of a
Mule and to my way of thinking
It took a real fool to turn the
Other face to that lumber jack
But that's what he did
The Reverend Mr black he stood like a rock
A man among men and he let
That lumberjack hit him again
And then with a voice as quiet as could be
He cut him down like a big
Oak tree when he said

It's been many years since we had to part
And I guess I learned his ways by heart
I can still hear his sermon's ring
Down in the valley where he used to sing
I followed him, yes, sir
And I don't regret it and I hope I
Will always be a credit to his memory
Because I want you to understand
The Reverend Mr black was my old man