At Folsom Prison
Folsom Prison looms large in Johnny Cash's legacy, providing the setting fo… Read Full Bio ↴Folsom Prison looms large in Johnny Cash's legacy, providing the setting for perhaps his definitive song and the location for his definitive album, At Folsom Prison. The ideal blend of mythmaking and gritty reality, At Folsom Prison is the moment when Cash turned into the towering Man in Black, a haunted troubadour singing songs of crime, conflicted conscience, and jail. Surely, this dark outlaw stance wasn't a contrivance but it was an exaggeration, with Cash creating this image by tailoring his set list to his audience of prisoners, filling up the set with tales of murder and imprisonment -- a bid for common ground with the convicts, but also a sly way to suggest that maybe Cash really did shoot a man in Reno just to watch him die. Given the cloud of death that hangs over the songs on At Folsom Prison, there's a temptation to think of it as a gothic, gloomy affair or perhaps a repository of rage, but what's striking about Cash's performance is that he never romanticizes either the crime or the criminals: if anything, he underplays the seriousness with his matter-of-fact ballad delivery or how he throws out wry jokes. Cash is relating to the prisoners and he's entertaining them too, singing "Cocaine Blues" like a bastard on the run, turning a death sentence into literal gallows humor on "25 Minutes to Go," playing "I Got Stripes" as if it were a badge of pride. Never before had his music seemed so vigorous as it does here, nor had he tied together his humor, gravity, and spirituality in one record. In every sense, it was a breakthrough, but more than that, At Folsom Prison is the quintessential Johnny Cash album, the place where his legend burns bright and eternal.
(The Expanded Edition CD of At Folsom Prison added three bonus tracks to the songs included in the original 16-track LP.)
- AMG review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine -
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At Folsom Prison
Johnny Cash Lyrics


25 Minutes to Go Well they're building a gallows outside my cell And I've got…
Cocaine Blues Early one mornin' while makin' the rounds I took a shot…
Dark as the Dungeon Oh, come all you young fellers, young and so fine Seek…
Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog Well he's not very handsome to look at Oh he's…
Flushed from the Bathroom of Your Heart From the backdoor of your life you swept me out…
Folsom Prison Blues I hear the train a-comin' It's rollin' 'round the bend And I…
Give My Love to Rose I found him by the railroad track this morning I could…
Green, Green Grass of Home The old home town looks the same, As I step down…
Greystone Chapel Thank you very much This next song was written by a…
I Got Stripes On a Monday, I was arrested (uh huh) On a Tuesday,…
I Still Miss Someone They'll probably take that word out of it At my door…
Jackson We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper…
Orange Blossom Special Look a-yonder comin' Comin' down that railroad track Hey, lo…
Send a Picture of Mother After seven years behind these bars together I'll miss you m…
The Long Black Veil Ten years ago, on a cold dark night Someone was killed,…
The Wall There's a lot of strange men in cell block ten But…


Anonymous


on Wayfaring Stranger

Wayfaring Stranger - The New Appalachians - Lyrics

I am a poor wayfaring stranger
Traveling through this world alone

There will be no sickness, toil or danger
In that grand land to which I roam

Well I'm going home to see my mother
I'm going home to a morning rose
I'm only goin' over Jordan
I'm only goin' over home

Musical Interlude

I know dark clouds will gather 'round me
I know my way is rough and steep
And beautiful fields lie just before me
Where God's redeemed there vigils keep

Well I'm going home to see my brothers
I'm going home no more to roam
I'm only goin' over Jordan
I'm only goin' over home

Musical Interlude

I'm going home to see my Father
I'm going home no more to roam
I'm only goin' over Jordan
I’m only goin’ where no one roams

I want to wear that crown of glory
When I get to that good land
I want to shout out salvation story
In concert with that blood washed band.
I'm going there to see my saviour
I’ll see his face no more to roam
I'm only going over Jordan
I'm only going over home
I'm only goin' over home

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