Six Mile Post

Inside October 14, 2003's Issue

-Opinions-

I remember Johnny

Guest Column
By Ken Caruthers
[email protected]
Chief Photographer

It was my mother who introduced me to the legend Johnny Cash. My mother was brought up listening to country, so it was only fitting that I would be raised on a lot of the same music she was. I came to be a fan of Mr. Johnny Cash at a very young age, but then my teenage years made me forget him.

During my teenage years, I started listening to what most other teenagers listen to. That was rock. Years passed until I was about 16 or 17, and I was looking at cassette tapes, while in gas station, and found one of Johnny Cash, �Live at Folsom Prison.� It was only $4.99, so I was like what the hell, and bought it.

I got in my car and immediately put it in my stereo. In a few seconds I heard a guitar and a very raspy voice start up: �I hear the train a comin'; it's rollin' 'round the bend, and I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when.� I was taken by his music once again.

His music relates to the common man that goes through good and bad times. Most of us can relate because most of us are common people. He writes of heartache and money problems, something we have all had. He lets us know that we are not alone in our troubles. The journey we are taking in life is pretty much the same journey that others, including Johnny, have taken. He has become known as �The Man in Black,� because he always wore black. He was a rebel during his time.

My mother came into my room on the tragic day of Sept. 12, 2003, sat on my bed and said, �Your favorite country singer died this morning.� I felt my heart sink down to my stomach. I knew exactly whom she was talking about. She hugged me. She knew what he meant to me, because I was always listening to him while doing anything in my room, especially when I was in a sad mood.

I think she would stand outside my room and listen to me sing along with Johnny, because she would pop her head in right when he would start the chorus of �Ring of Fire.� The face and the deep raspy voice she tried to impersonate were priceless. Every time I hear that song, I think of her popping her head in while saying, �I fell into a burning ring of fire. I went down, down, down, and the flames went higher.� It always makes me laugh.

His death really upset me. He's a legend that will be missed. I never saw him in concert, and now I never will get the chance. All I have are old albums of him, and good times singing along in my room and car.

Johnny left behind somewhere around a thousand songs. I must recommend his latest and last album, �American IV.� In this album he covers several songs, and, it seems to me, makes his peace with God. It has one of the greatest covers I have ever heard. He covers Nine Inch Nail's �Hurt,� a song that seems to have so much more meaning to it when Johnny sings it.

Johnny Cash is an 11-time Grammy winner, winning one this year, and a six-time winner of Country Music Association awards. And if that is not enough to make you go �Wow,� in 1996 President Clinton presented him with the Lifetime Achievement Award (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/entertainment/US/OBIT_JohnnyCash030912.html).

With all his success he still remained down to earth, and I admire that mostly. Johnny Cash will live on in the hearts of all his fans, especially mine. Johnny Cash will forever play his songs in my heart as �The Man in Black.�

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