REVEREND MR. BLACK
(Billy Ed Wheeler / Jed Peters)

Bill Anderson - 1963
Faron Young - 1963
Tex Ritter - 1969 
Johnny Cash - 1981



 
He rode easy in the saddle, he was tall and lean
At first you thought nothin' but a streak of mean
Could make a man look so downright strong
But one look in his eyes and you know'd 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
The folks just called him the Reverend Mr. Black

He was poor as a beggar, but he rode like a king
And sometimes in the evening you could hear him sing...

I gotta walk that lonesome valley
I gotta walk it by myself
Nobody else can walk it for me
I gotta walk it by myself

If ever I could have thought this man in black
Was soft or had any yellow up his back
I gave that notion up the day
That a lumberjack came in and it wadn't to pray

He kicked open that meetin' house door
And he cussed ev'rybody up and down the floor
Then when things got quiet in the place
Walked up and cussed in the preacher's face

He hit that reverend like the kick of a mule
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
And he let that lumberjack hit him again
Then with a voice as kind as could be
Cut him down like a big oak tree, when he said...

(You gotta walk that lonesome valley)
(You gotta walk it by yourself)
(No, nobody else can walk it for you)
(You gotta 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
I just hope that I can be of credit
To his memory, for you understand
The Reverend Mr. Black was my old man

(You gotta walk that lonesome valley)
(You gotta walk it by yourself)
(No, nobody else can walk it for you)
(You gotta walk it by yourself)

(You gotta walk that lonesome valley)
(You gotta walk it by yourself)
(No, nobody else can walk it for you)
(You gotta walk it by yourself)


(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - June 2010)