| He rode easy in the saddle, he was tall and lean
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| And at first you thought nothing but a streak of mean
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| Could make any man look so down right strong
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| But one look in his eyes and you knowed you was wrong
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| He was a mountain of a man, and I want you to know
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| He could preach hot hell or freezin' snow
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| He carried a Bible in a canvas sack
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| And folks just called him the Reverend Mr. Black
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| He was poor as a beggar
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| But he rode like a king
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| Sometimes in the evenin'
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| I could hear him sing
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| I gotta walk that lonesome valley
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| I got to walk it by myself
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| Ain’t, nobody else can walk it for me
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| 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
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| Was soft and had any yellow up his back
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| I gave that notion up one day
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| A lumberjack came in and it wasn’t to pray
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| Yeah, he kicked open the meeting house door
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| And he cussed everybody up and down the floor
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| Then, when things got quiet in the place
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| He walked up and cussed in the preacher’s face
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| He hit that reverend like the kick of a mule
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| And to my way of thinkin' it took one pure fool
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| To turn the other cheek to that lumberjack
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| But that’s what he did, The Reverend Mr. Black
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| He stood like a rock, a man among men
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| Then he let that lumberjack hit him again
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| And then with a voice as kind as could be
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| He cut him down like a big oak tree when he said
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| 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
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| And I guess I learned his ways by heart
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| Cause I can still hear his sermon’s ring
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| Down in the valley where he used to sing
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| I followed him, yes siree, and I don’t regret it
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| I hope I will always be a credit
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| To his memory 'cause I want you to understand
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| 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 |