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.
Loading Coal
Johnny Cash Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And it don't look right for a boy that old to not make a livin' loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal I'm a double first cousin to a dad blamed mole
Never get rich for to save my soul and forty 'leven years a loadin' coal loadin' coal
Ain't never got acquainted with a dollar bill and I don't ever reckon that I ever will
A dollar ain't made for a fellar I'm told that scoops up a livin' loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal...
[ ac.guitar ]
But I know mighty well till I grow old I'll still be a cussin' but loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal...
[ ac,guitar ]
I know just as well as coal is black one of these days the mines were strike
And I'll sit around starvin' till I'm finally told
There's a nickel more a ton for loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal...
The song "Loading Coal" by Johnny Cash is a lamentation of the hard life and lack of opportunities of those who make a living loading coal for a living. The song starts with a conversation between the singer's father and himself, where the father remarks that it's strange for a boy of his age to not be making a living loading coal. The singer then goes on to express his frustration and despair with his life, lamenting that he'll never get rich and that he's never even seen a dollar bill. He curses his lot in life and the tools he uses every day, but he knows deep down that he'll never escape this life of loading coal.
The song's imagery is bleak and desolate, evoking a sense of hopelessness and resignation. The coal mines are portrayed as dark and oppressive places, where the only way to make a living is by breaking your back every day. Despite this, the singer seems to have a sense of pride in his work, even if he knows that it will never bring him any real reward.
Overall, "Loading Coal" is a powerful and poignant expression of the struggles and hardships faced by working-class Americans in the mid-twentieth century. It speaks to the value of hard work and the dignity of those who make their living through difficult and often thankless labor.
Line by Line Meaning
My pappy said when I was seventeen you're six feet tall and your face is clean
My father told me that when I was seventeen, I was all grown up and looked good.
And it don't look right for a boy that old to not make a livin' loadin' coal
He advised me that it was not good for a boy my age to not have a job.
Loadin' coal loadin' coal I'm a double first cousin to a dad blamed mole
I have been loading coal for so long that I feel like I am related to moles.
Never get rich for to save my soul and forty 'leven years a loadin' coal loadin' coal
Loading coal has never made me rich, even after working for over forty years.
Ain't never got acquainted with a dollar bill and I don't ever reckon that I ever will
I have never had the opportunity to become familiar with paper money, and I doubt I ever will.
A dollar ain't made for a fellar I'm told that scoops up a livin' loadin' coal
People have told me that a dollar is not enough for someone who works hard by scooping coal for a living.
I cussed everything in the mining camp from a shovel and my pick to my carbide lamp
I have cursed everything in the mining camp, from my tools to my lamp.
But I know mighty well till I grow old I'll still be a cussin' but loadin' coal
However, I know that I will keep cursing while loading coal even when I get older.
I know just as well as coal is black one of these days the mines were strike
I am aware that mines will go on strike one day.
And I'll sit around starvin' till I'm finally told there's a nickel more a ton for loadin' coal
And then, I will have to sit around starving until I find out that the payment for loading coal has gone up by five cents a ton.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MERLE TRAVIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Ifsilon1
My pappy said when I was seventeen you're six feet tall and your face is clean
And it don't look right for a boy that old to not make a livin' loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal I'm a double first cousin to a dad blamed mole
Never get rich for to save my soul and forty 'leven years a loadin' coal loadin' coal
Ain't never got acquainted with a dollar bill and I don't ever reckon that I ever will
A dollar ain't made for a fellar I'm told that scoops up a livin' loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal I'm a double first cousin to a dad blamed mole
Never get rich for to save my soul and forty 'leven years a loadin' coal loadin' coal
[ ac.guitar ]
I cussed everything in the mining camp from a shovel and my pick to my carbide lamp
But I know mighty well till I grow old I'll still be a cussin' but loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal I'm a double first cousin to a dad blamed mole
Never get rich for to save my soul and forty 'leven years a loadin' coal loadin' coal
[ ac,guitar ]
I know just as well as coal is black one of these days the mines were strike
And I'll sit around starvin' till I'm finally told
There's a nickel more a ton for loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal I'm a double first cousin to a dad blamed mole
Never get rich for to save my soul and forty 'leven years a loadin' coal loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal...
@jgamez9364
My pappy said when I was seventeen
"You're six feet tall and your face is clean
And it don't look right for a boy that old
To not make a livin' loadin' coal"
Loadin' coal, loadin' coal
I'm a double first cousin to a dad blamed mole
Never get rich for to save my soul
And forty 'leven years a loadin' coal, loadin' coal
Ain't never got acquainted with a dollar bill
And I don't ever reckon that I ever will
A dollar ain't made for a fellar I'm told
That scoops up a livin' loadin' coal
Loadin' coal, loadin' coal
I'm a double first cousin to a dad blamed mole
Never get rich for to save my soul
And forty 'leven years a loadin' coal, loadin' coal
I cussed everything in the mining camp
From a shovel and my pick to my carbide lamp
But I know mighty well till I grow old
I'll still be a cussin' but loadin' coal
Loadin' coal, loadin' coal
I'm a double first cousin to a dad blamed mole
Never get rich for to save my soul
And forty 'leven years a loadin' coal, loadin' coal
I know just as well as coal is black
One of these days the mines were strike
And I'll sit around starvin' till I'm finally told
There's a nickel more a ton for loadin' coal
Loadin' coal, loadin' coal
I'm a double first cousin to a dad blamed mole
Never get rich for to save my soul
And forty 'leven years a loadin' coal, loadin' coal
Loadin' coal, loadin' coal, loadin' coal
@sarahburggraf861
Cash always had a soft spot in his ❤ for the workin man
@toddhill4411
He definitely does remind me my grsbpaps
@georgewashington6225
Wish the retards destroying our country did🙄bunch of fucking scumbag leeches...
@admiralgoodboy
Gotta honour one's roots
@10156lucky
Amen to that
@GLKZ33
I miss coal mining it was a dirty dangerous job but nothing like going back under that mountain in Eastern Kentucky. Enjoyed every minute.
@Worldsbestundergroundpilot
Mining was the best job I ever had.
@dustywelchcraneman6614
Thank you for your service sir!
@dustywelchcraneman6614
@sean header money isn't everything. When you finally go, all the money in the world won't make a difference. Youl be an asshole to some a savior to others, a friend to some and a rival to others. The dash between your birthday and your death day is all that matters. Ya the money wasn't always great, I never vacationed in a foreign country 6 times a year, I never lived in a million dollar mansion, but I never once went hungry, I never once went without anything I desperately needed. I was and still am happy. I do most everything I want to to do, I have some things I'd like to do but can't at the moment due to financial situations, but il do them eventually, and IL be happy as can be. If you spend your life chasing money, you will never be happy. You will never have enough. Doing an honest days work for an honest fair pay is twice as satisfying as living in a giant house with tons of money. Your justification as to weather or not anything is worth it isn't necessary, because truly, your justification has already been established, considering you bought the electricity and paid for it to make your comment.
@BrianCarnevaleB26
hows that coal dust treatin ya? Your life has been shortened by breathing in that shit.