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