A nice easy one this week...
In 1956, Johnny Cash released a single that Rolling Stone would eventually vote the greatest country song of all time...
It was a song about staying true to your wife, and not falling prey to the temptations of other women, particularly when you're on the road. When he wrote it, Johnny was still with his first wife, Vivian Liberto. Clearly, he didn't walk the line for very long... not with Vivian, anyway. With his second wife, June Carter, though, Johnny found it very, very easy to be true.
I find it very, very easy to be true
I find myself alone when each day is through
Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you
Because you're mine, I walk the line
In 1998, Rodney Crowell released a sequel called I Walk The Line (Revisited). It features a new tune and fresh lyrics, written by Crowell, before switching to Johnny singing the original track, and back again. At this point, Crowell was the former son-in-law of Cash, having been married to Johnny and Vivian's daughter, Roseanne, between 1979 and 1992. Talk about complex family dynamics...
All these long years later, it's still music to my ears
I swear it sounds as good right now as anything I hear
I've seen the Mona Lisa, I've heard Shakespeare read real fine
Just like hearing Johnny Cash sing 'I walk the line'
In 2007, the former Vivian Cash released a memoir about her short-lived marriage entitled I Walked The Line.
No comments:
Post a Comment