Chords
Long Black Veil

Long Black Veil is a country ballad written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin in 1959. The song narrates the tale of a man wrongly accused of murder and executed, while his alibi, having been in the arms of his best friends wife, remains a secret he takes to his grave. The song is noted for its somber mood and theme of loyalty, betrayal, and lost love.

Key: G

Introduction:

difficulty
very easy |||||
 G 
Ten years ago on a cool dark night
           D                           C          G 
There was someone killed beneath the town hall light
            G 
There were few at the scene and they all did agree
          D                     C         G 
That the man who ran looked a lot like me

     G 
The judge said, "Son, what is your alibi?
             D                    C                  G 
If you were somewhere else then you won' t have to die"
   G 
I spoke not a word although it meant my life
       D                       C              G 
I had been in the arms of my best friend' s wife

     C            G           C           G 
She walks these hills in a long black veil
     C          G                C            G 
She visits my grave where the night winds wail
 G                        C         G 
  Nobody knows, no, and   nobody sees
 C         D          C   G 
  Nobody knows but me

     G 
The scaffold was high and eternity neared
     D                       C           G 
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
     G 
But sometimes at night when the cold wind moans
      D                    C              G 
In a long black veil she cries over my bones

     C            G           C           G 
She walks these hills in a long black veil
     C          G                C            G 
She visits my grave where the night winds wail
 G                        C         G 
  Nobody knows, no, and   nobody sees
 C         D          C   G 
  Nobody knows but me
Set8