How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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About

Genius Annotation

“The Long Black Veil” is a macabre folk song written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilken in 1959. Originally performed by Lefty Frizzell, the song has been covered by so many different artists, among them Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, The Band, and Dave Matthews Band, that it’s now considered a standard.

It was the 1965 version by Johnny Cash on his albums Orange Blossom Special and At Folsom Prison, however, that really popularized the song. Cash performed the song live in 1969, on his own television program, The Johnny Cash Show. Joni Mitchell joined him onstage.

The songwriters drew from many different influences: Red Foley’s recording of “God Walks These Hills With Me”, a contemporary newspaper report about the unsolved murder of a priest, and the legend of a mysterious veiled woman who regularly visited silent film star Rudolph Valentino’s grave. Dill himself called it an “instant folksong,” because once the elements of the writing fell into place, the song essentially wrote itself.

Comics throughout the annotations from Pitabow Comics. Used without permission.

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