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.
The Frozen Logger
Johnny Cash Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A forty year old waitress to me these words did say:
"I see that you are a logger, and not just a common bum,
'Cause nobody but a logger stirs his coffee with is thumb.
My lover was a logger, there's none like him today;
If you'd pour whiskey on it he could eat a bale of hay
He never shaved his whiskers from off of his horny hide;
He'd just drive them in with a hammer and bite them off inside.
My lover came to see me upon one freezing day;
He held me in his fond embrace which broke three vertebrae.
He kissed me when we parted, so hard that he broke my jaw;
I could not speak to tell him he'd forgot his mackinaw.
I saw my lover leaving, sauntering through the snow,
Going gaily homeward at forty-eight below.
The weather it tried to freeze him, it tried its level best;
At a hundred degrees below zero, he buttoned up his vest.
It froze clean through to China, it froze to the stars above;
At a thousand degrees below zero, it froze my logger love.
They tried in vain to thaw him, and would you believe me, sir
They made him into axeblades, to chop the Douglas fir.
And so I lost my lover, and to this cafe I come,
And here I wait till someone stirs his coffee with his thumb."
The Frozen Logger is a ballad by Johnny Cash that tells the story of a waitress who shares the tale of her lover, who was a logger, and his tragic death due to the harsh winter weather. The song begins as the waitress observes the logger and distinguishes him from the other patrons by stating that only a logger would stir their coffee with their thumb. She then goes on to share stories about her lover’s remarkable strength, such as his ability to consume a bale of hay with whiskey and his technique for shaving his whiskers by biting them off with his teeth.
The story then takes a dark turn as the waitress reveals how her lover passed away while trying to make it back to her on a frigidly cold day. He embraced her so tightly that it caused her to break three vertebrae, and his kiss was so hard it broke her jaw. He left without realizing that he forgot his mackinaw, and the waitress watched him stride through the snow at forty-eight degrees below zero with a fierce determination. The weather worsens, reaching temperatures of a hundred and even a thousand degrees below zero, freezing the logger clean through to China and the stars above. In the end, his body was made into axeblades to chop the Douglas fir, and the waitress is left to lament his loss as she waits for someone to stir their coffee with their thumb.
Line by Line Meaning
As I sat down one evening within a small cafe,
I entered a café on a cold evening and took a seat.
A forty year old waitress to me these words did say:
A waitress, who was likely around forty years old, spoke to me with the following words:
"I see that you are a logger, and not just a common bum,
"You are a logger, not a bum, I can tell.
'Cause nobody but a logger stirs his coffee with is thumb.
Loggers often stir their coffee with their thumb.
My lover was a logger, there's none like him today;
My former partner worked as a logger, and there was no one quite like him nowadays.
If you'd pour whiskey on it he could eat a bale of hay
He had a large appetite and could even eat a bale of hay if you poured whiskey on it.
He never shaved his whiskers from off of his horny hide;
He never shaved his facial hair but instead tackled it with a hammer and his teeth.
He'd just drive them in with a hammer and bite them off inside.
He would use a hammer to push his beard into his mouth and then bite it off.
My lover came to see me upon one freezing day;
One day, during freezing conditions, my partner came to visit me.
He held me in his fond embrace which broke three vertebrae.
His embrace was so strong that it broke three of my vertebrae.
He kissed me when we parted, so hard that he broke my jaw;
When we said goodbye, he kissed me so hard that my jaw was broken.
I could not speak to tell him he'd forgot his mackinaw.
I couldn't speak to remind him that he had forgotten his mackinaw.
I saw my lover leaving, sauntering through the snow,
I watched my partner walk through the snow as he left.
Going gaily homeward at forty-eight below.
He walked home cheerfully even though the temperature was forty-eight degrees below zero.
The weather it tried to freeze him, it tried its level best;
The weather did its best to freeze him.
At a hundred degrees below zero, he buttoned up his vest.
In temperatures one hundred degrees below zero, he only buttoned up his vest.
It froze clean through to China, it froze to the stars above;
The cold was so intense, it seemed to freeze all the way to China and the stars above.
At a thousand degrees below zero, it froze my logger love.
At temperatures one thousand degrees below zero, the cold ultimately froze my lover.
They tried in vain to thaw him, and would you believe me, sir
They attempted to thaw him heat, but it proved to be unsuccessful.
They made him into axeblades, to chop the Douglas fir.
Eventually, he was made into axe blades.
And so I lost my lover, and to this cafe I come,
As a result, I lost my lover, and now I come to this café regularly.
And here I wait till someone stirs his coffee with his thumb."
I sit here waiting for someone who stirs their coffee with their thumb.
Contributed by Emily A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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