I thought the "Man In The Long Black Coat," began with the line "Crickets are chirpin', the river is high." I must have misheard the song and the mistake stuck in my mind. Because of this mistake, the song never made sense to me. Someone just pointed out to me the line is "Crickets are chirpin', the water is high." Now it all makes sense. If the initial image is a river, it's just too limiting. Since it's just "water", the image can be a pond, lake, ocean, stream or anything else that holds water and can get high. The song becomes more univeral, almost timeless.

This song has Dylan's best lyrics now that I know them properly. It should be in an anthology of great poems of the 20th century, only Dylan song that belongs there.