Cash was known for his deep, calm bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his Tennessee Three backing band characterized by train-sound guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, free prison concerts, and a trademark, all-black stage wardrobe, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black." He traditionally began his concerts by simply introducing himself, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash," followed by his signature song "Folsom Prison Blues".
Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his career. His other signature songs include "I Walk the Line", "Ring of Fire", "Get Rhythm", and "Man in Black". He also recorded humorous numbers like "One Piece at a Time" and "A Boy Named Sue"; a duet with his future wife, June Carter, called "Jackson" (followed by many further duets after their wedding); and railroad songs including "Hey, Porter", "Orange Blossom Special", and "Rock Island Line". During the last stage of his career, Cash covered songs by several late 20th-century rock artists, notably "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails and "Rusty Cage" by Soundgarden.
Johnny Cash was born on February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, to Ray Cash and Carrie Cloveree (née Rivers). He was the fourth of seven children, who were in birth order: Roy, Margaret Louise, Jack, J. R., Reba, Joanne, and Tommy (who also became a successful country artist). He was primarily of English and Scottish descent. As an adult he traced his surname to 11th-century Fife, after meeting with the then-laird of Falkland, Major Michael Crichton-Stuart. Cash Loch and other locations in Fife bear the name of his family.
At birth, Cash was named J. R. Cash. When Cash enlisted in the United States Air Force, he was not permitted to use initials as a first name, so he changed his name to John R. Cash. In 1955, when signing with Sun Records, he started going by Johnny Cash.
In March 1935, when Cash was three years old, the family settled in Dyess, Arkansas, a New Deal colony established to give poor families a chance to work land that they had a chance to own as a result. Cash started working in cotton fields at the age of five, singing along with his family while working. The Cash farm experienced a flood during the family's time in Dyess, which led Cash later to write the song "Five Feet High and Rising". His family's economic and personal struggles during the Great Depression inspired many of his songs, especially those about other people facing similar difficulties. Consequently, Cash had sympathy for the poor and working class throughout his life.
Cash was very close to his older brother, Jack. On Saturday May 12, 1944, Jack was pulled into an unguarded table saw at his high school while cutting oak into fence posts as his job and was almost cut in two. He lingered until the following Saturday, when he died. Cash often spoke of the horrible guilt he felt over this incident; according to Cash: The Autobiography, his father was away that morning, but Johnny, his mother, and even Jack himself, all had premonitions or a sense of foreboding about that day. His mother urged Jack to skip work and go fishing with his brother, but Jack insisted on working since the family needed the money at the time. On his deathbed, Jack said he had visions of Heaven and angels. Decades later, Cash spoke of looking forward to meeting his brother in Heaven.
Cash's early memories were dominated by gospel music and radio. Taught guitar by his mother and a childhood friend, Cash began playing and writing songs at the age of 12. When young, Cash had a high-tenor voice, before becoming a bass-baritone after his voice changed.
In high school, he sang on a local radio station. Decades later, he released an album of traditional gospel songs, called My Mother's Hymn Book. He was also significantly influenced by traditional Irish music, which he heard performed weekly by Dennis Day on the Jack Benny radio program.
In 1997, Cash was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease Shy–Drager syndrome, a form of multiple system atrophy. According to biographer Robert Hilburn, the disease was originally misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease, and Cash even announced to his audience that he had Parkinson's after nearly collapsing on stage in Flint, Michigan, on October 25, 1997. Soon afterwards, his diagnosis was changed to Shy–Drager, and Cash was told he had about 18 months to live. The diagnosis was later again altered to autonomic neuropathy associated with diabetes. The illness forced Cash to curtail his touring. He was hospitalized in 1998 with severe pneumonia, which damaged his lungs.
During the last stage of his career, Cash released the albums American III: Solitary Man (2000) and American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002). American IV included cover songs by several late 20th-century rock artists, notably "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails and "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails commented that he was initially skeptical about Cash's plan to cover "Hurt", but was later impressed and moved by the rendition. The video for "Hurt" received critical and popular acclaim, including a Grammy Award.
June Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, at the age of 73. June had told Cash to keep working, so he continued to record, completing 60 more songs in the last four months of his life, and even performed a few surprise shows at the Carter Family Fold outside Bristol, Virginia. At the July 5, 2003, concert (his last public performance), before singing "Ring of Fire", Cash read a statement about his late wife that he had written shortly before taking the stage:
"The spirit of June Carter overshadows me tonight with the love she had for me and the love I have for her. We connect somewhere between here and Heaven. She came down for a short visit, I guess, from Heaven to visit with me tonight to give me courage and inspiration like she always has. She's never been one for me except courage and inspiration. I thank God for June Carter. I love her with all my heart. "
Cash continued to record until shortly before his death. His final recordings were made on August 21, 2003, and consisted of "Like the 309", which appeared on American V: A Hundred Highways in 2006, and the final song he completed, "Engine 143", which was recorded for his son John Carter Cash for a planned Carter Family tribute album.
Hiawatha's Vision
Johnny Cash Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hiawatha old and grayin' listened to the older prophet listened to Lagu
And the young men and the women from the land of Ojibways
From the land of the Dakotas from the woodlands and the prairies
Stood and listened to the prophet heard lagu tell Hiawatha
"I have seen" he said, "A water bigger than the big sea water
Broader than the gitchgoomy bitter so that none cold drink it
Hiawatha then spoke to them stopped all their jeering and their jesting
And he spoke to all the people
It's true what Lagu tells you for I have seen it in a vision
I have also seen the water to the east to the land of morning
And upon this great water came a strange canoe with pinions
Bigger than a grove of pine trees, taller than the tallest tree tops
And upon this great canoe were sails to carry it swiftly
And it carried many people, strange and foreign were these people
And white were all their faces and with hair their chins were covered
Then said Hiawatha, "I beheld a darker vision"
Many hundreds came behind them pushed their way across our prairies
In our woodlands rang their axes, in our valleys smoked their cities
Our people were all scattered all forgetful of our councils
Left their homelands going westward wild and woeful
And the man with bearded faces, the men with skin so fair
With their barking sticks of thunder drove the remnants of our people
Farther westward, westward, westward then wild wild and wilder
Grew the west that once was ours
In Johnny Cash's song, "Hiawatha's Vision," the listener is taken on a journey through the eyes of Hiawatha, an Ojibway chief who is visited by a prophet named Lagu. Lagu tells Hiawatha about a water that is even bigger than the big sea water, bitter and salty so that no one can drink it. Hiawatha confirms that he has also seen it in a vision and that there is a strange canoe with pinions that carries many strange and foreign people, all with white faces and hair-covered chins. Hiawatha also shares a darker vision, where many hundreds came behind these people, pushing their way across their prairies and ringing their axes in their woodlands, smoking their cities in their valleys.
As a leader, Hiawatha addresses his people and stops their jeering and jesting, telling them that Lagu's vision is true. He reveals the man with bearded faces, men with skin so fair, and their barking sticks of thunder drove the remnants of their people even farther westward, leaving their homelands going wild and woeful. The west that was once theirs grew wilder and wilder, pushing them farther away from their lands and their roots. The song serves as a critical commentary on the impact of colonialism and the devastation it caused to the Native American culture and way of life.
Line by Line Meaning
On the shores of gitchgoomy by the shining big sea water
Hiawatha listened to the older prophet Lagu while standing on the shores of Gitchigoomie, a large, shining body of water.
And the young men and the women from the land of Ojibways
Young men and women from the Ojibwe tribe, as well as people from the Dakotas, woodlands, and prairies gathered to listen to Lagu's prophecy.
Stood and listened to the prophet heard lagu tell Hiawatha
The group listened as Lagu shared his prophecy with Hiawatha.
"I have seen" he said, "A water bigger than the big sea water
Broader than the gitchgoomy bitter so that none cold drink it
Salty so that none would use it"
Lagu prophesied a bitter, salty water that was bigger and broader than Gitchigoomie, and impossible to drink or use.
Hiawatha then spoke to them stopped all their jeering and their jesting
And he spoke to all the people
Hiawatha silenced the crowd and addressed them all.
It's true what Lagu tells you for I have seen it in a vision
I have also seen the water to the east to the land of morning
Hiawatha corroborated Lagu's prophecy, citing his own previous vision of the bitter water in the east.
And upon this great water came a strange canoe with pinions
Bigger than a grove of pine trees, taller than the tallest tree tops
And upon this great canoe were sails to carry it swiftly
And it carried many people, strange and foreign were these people
Hiawatha saw a large canoe with wings and sails that carried many foreign people, taller than trees, on the bitter water from the east.
And white were all their faces and with hair their chins were covered
The foreign people on the canoe had white skin and facial hair.
Then said Hiawatha, "I beheld a darker vision"
Hiawatha then shared a darker vision he had seen.
Many hundreds came behind them pushed their way across our prairies
In our woodlands rang their axes, in our valleys smoked their cities
Our people were all scattered all forgetful of our councils
Left their homelands going westward wild and woeful
Hiawatha saw many more foreign people arrive, who destroyed their prairies, woodlands, and valleys to build their cities, causing Hiawatha's people to scatter and forget their traditions.
And the man with bearded faces, the men with skin so fair
With their barking sticks of thunder drove the remnants of our people
Farther westward, westward, westward then wild wild and wilder
Grew the west that once was ours
The foreign people with beards and white skin used guns to force the remaining native people to move further west, which ultimately led to the loss of their once-owned land.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: JOHNNY CASH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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