"Long Black Veil" is a 1959 country ballad, written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin and originally recorded by Lefty Frizzell.
A saga song, "Long Black Veil" is told from the point of view of an executed man falsely accused of murder. He refuses to provide an alibi, since on the night of the murder he was having an affair with his best friend's wife, and would rather die and take their secret to his grave than admit the truth. The chorus describes the woman's mourning visits to his gravesite, wearing a long black veil and enduring a howling wind.
B-side "When It Rains The Blues"
Released April 20, 1959 (U.S.)
Format 7"
Recorded March 3, 1959
Genre Country
Length 3:05
Label Columbia Records 4-41384
Writer(s) Marijohn Wilkin and Danny Dill
Producer Don Law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Black_VeilTen years ago on a cold dark night
someone was killed 'neath the town hall lights
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
that the man who ran looked a lot like me
The Judge said, "Son, what is your alibi?
If you were somewhere else, then you won't have to die"
I spoke not a word, though it meant my life
for I'd been in the arms of my best friends wife
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees; nobody knows but me
Now the scaffold is high, and eternity's near
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold wind moans
In a long black veil she cries over my bones
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees; nobody knows but me
