'Long Black Veil' - The Chieftains featuring Mick Jagger

"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 wailing wind.

Ten years ago on a cold dark night there was
Someone killed 'neath the town hall lights
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
That the slayer who ran, looked a lot like me

Now she walks these hills, in a long black veil
She visits my grave, when the cold winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows, but me

The scaffold is high, and eternity's near
She stood in the crowd, and shed not a tear
But some times at night, when the cold wind moans
In a long black veil, she cries over my bones

Now 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

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
I'd been in the arms of my best friends wife

Now 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
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows, but me