He rode easy in the saddle

He was tall and lean and at first you'd a thought nothing

But a streak of mean could make a 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 evening, I'd hear him sing I gotta 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

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 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

Then, when things got quiet in the place

He walked up and cusses in the preacher's face He hit that Reverend like a kick of a mule

And to my way of thinkin' it took a real fool

To turn the other face to that lumber jack

But that's what he did, The Reverend Mr. Black He stood like a rock, a man among men

And he let that lumberjack hit him again

And then with a voice as quiet 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

Oh, 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

I can still hear his sermon's ring

Down in the valley where he used to sing I followed him, yes, sir and I don't regret it

And 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

Oh, 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