Reverend Mr. Black

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