Reverend Mr. Black - Lonnie Donegan

He rode easy in the saddle, he was tall and lean

And at first you thought nothing but a streak of mean

Could make any man look so down right 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 evenin'

I could hear him sing

I gotta walk that lonesome valley

I got to walk it by myself

Ain’t, nobody else can walk it for me

I got to walk it by myself

You got to walk that lonesome valley

You got to walk it by yourself

Oh, nobody else can walk it for you

You 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 one 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 cussed in the preacher’s face

He hit that reverend like the kick of a mule

And to my way of thinkin' it took one 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

I gotta walk that lonesome valley

I got to walk it by myself

Ain’t, nobody else can walk it for me

I got to walk it by myself

You got to walk that lonesome valley

You got to walk it by yourself

Oh, nobody else can walk it for you

You 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

Cause I can still hear his sermon’s ring

Down in the valley where he used to sing

I followed him, yes siree, and I don’t regret it

I hope I will always be a credit

To his memory 'cause I want you to understand

The Reverend Mr. Black was my old man

I gotta walk that lonesome valley

I got to walk it by myself

Ain’t, nobody else can walk it for me

I got to walk it by myself

You got to walk that lonesome valley

You got to walk it by yourself

Oh, nobody else can walk it for you

You got to walk it by yourself