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A great American singer-songwriter, undoubtedly one of the greatest, Johnny Cash, passed away in 2002 at the age of 71, leaving us almost a spiritual testament with this album, "The Man Comes Around." which I am about to review here.
He was never a complete country author (although his beginnings were of this matrix), he always tried to follow his own path, a path bordered by the world of the secluded, ostracized from civilization, prisoners, a world nevertheless always guided by a deep vein of religious spirituality. The four collections of American Recordings instead mark one of Cash's last inclinations, that of approaching the more mainstream world of rock and pop. Obviously, this is done in his own way, with a series of covers of some more or less known songs, transformed (or rather, reworked) to make them his own. By the author's choice, it must first be said that the album is simple and almost sparse regarding the melodic and rhythmic section (some acoustic guitar, a piano, occasionally percussion, but nothing more), and Johnny's voice, hoarse, warm, deep, and rich like aged whiskey, is enhanced by the collaboration of well-known artists (John Frusciante, Fiona Apple, and others). Moreover, for those approaching this artist for the first time, it must be emphasized that he doesn't "sing" his songs but almost recites them as prayers, yet giving them a particular tension and intonation that makes them quite enjoyable.
Already by the second track, a blow to the heart: "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails, suffering, painful, and fragile from the start, is reinterpreted by Johnny in an almost spiritual and mystical way. This is a confession, an act of impotence and love, where drugs almost no longer matter—it's just the fragile man in front of his empire built on dirt and pain. As touching as few other things, with a crescendo that even Reznor, the mind behind NIN, couldn't listen to without tears.
The next "Give My Love To Rose" is a splendid sad love story set to music, a warm breeze that brings with it the flavor of wheat and the song of crickets. Moving through "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Simon & Garfunkel), a wonderful declaration of love, three more gems in quick succession await us. The first is "I Hung My Head," a story of a (possibly unintended?) murder of a boy and the consequent imprisonment. I don't know why, but it's like someone you've known all your life is telling you a story: this is what I feel listening to this song, in which Cash tells the tale masterfully, simply, and effectively.
Then comes "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face": again, a melancholic declaration of love, so simple in its lyrics yet so incisive and touching. It's the soul of a man laid bare, it's his open heart, it's the perfect poetry to declare to your eternal love before an altar. If only the world were more permeated with this honest everyday yet special romanticism, if only each of us could say to our partner with such simple words what we feel, perhaps we would better realize what power love unleashes and what it means to have someone by your side.
Then you wake up with the dirty and bluesy "Personal Jesus"(Depeche Mode), undoubtedly an excellent interpretation, considered by many the true gem of the album. I'm not saying it doesn't deserve such a judgment, just that, perhaps due to its position in the tracklist, it has never particularly entered my veins. Nonetheless, its immense value remains unchanged.
In my personal selection, I jump straight to track twelve, "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." The song, in which Cash and Nick Cave alternate in singing, is of a dazzling melancholy and desolation. The two, who almost seem like the same person in the mirror and at two different moments in life (not surprisingly, Cash himself identified Cave as almost his heir), seek each other and find each other marvelously, and when their voices join, your heart opens, and you empathize with this sweet melancholy solitude.
Personally, the album could end right here: there have been so many emotions, so many sensations, and I won't hide it, at certain moments there were even some tears. Yet, even though it is far from what I typically listen to, I have learned with this album that melancholy, the sweet kind that cradles you, can be found in many things, even small ones, and that a simple song can have a thousand different facets, depending on who and especially how they interpret it. It has been and remains a very significant album in my discography and holds a place of absolute prominence, even just for gems like "Hurt," "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." Give it a listen, folks, and surely in one of these fifteen beautiful and sincere tracks you will find a part of your soul.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Hurt (03:40)
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liars chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way
03 Give My Love to Rose (03:30)
i found him by the railroad track this mornin'
i could see that he was nearly dead
i nelt down beside him, and i listened
just to hear the words the dyin' fella said
he said they let me outa prison, out in frisco
for ten long years i paid for what i done
i was tryin to get back to lousiana
to see my rose, and get to know my son
give my love to rose, please wont ya mister?
take her all my money, tell her buy some pretty clothes
tell my boy that daddy's so proud of him
and dont forget to give my love to rose
wont ya tell um, i said thanks for waitin' for me
tell my boy to help his ma at home
tell my rose to try to find another
cause it aint right that she should live alone
mister here's the bag with all my money
it wont last them long, though it goes
god bless you for finding me this morning
now dont forget to give my love to rose
give my love to rose, please wont ya mister?
take her all my money, tell her buy some pretty clothes
tell my boy that daddy's so proud of him
and dont forget to give my love to rose
07 Personal Jesus (03:22)
Your own, personal, Jesus
someone to hear your prayers,
someone who cares
Your own, personal, Jesus
someone to hear your prayers,
someone who's there
Feeling unknown
and you're all alone,
flesh and bone,
by the telephone,
lift up the receiver,
i'll make you a believer
Take second best,
put me to the test,
things on your chest,
you need to confess,
i will deliver,
you know i'm a forgiver
Reach out and touch faith
Reach out and touch faith
Your own, personal, Jesus
someone to hear your prayers,
someone who cares
Your own, personal, Jesus
someone to hear your prayers,
someone to care
Feeling unknown
and you're all alone,
flesh and bone,
by the telephone,
lift up the receiver,
i'll make you a believer
i will deliver,
you know i'm a forgiver
Reach out and touch faith
Reach out and touch faith
Reach out and touch faith
Reach out and touch faith
11 Desperado (03:15)
Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
You been out ridin' fences for so long now.
Oh, you're a hard one,
But I know that you've got your reasons.
These things that are pleasin' you,
Can hurt you somehow.
Don't you draw the queen of diamonds, boy,
She'll beat you if she's able.
Know the queen of hearts is always your best bet.
Now it seems to me, some fine things,
Have been laid upon your table.
But you only want the things that you can't get.
Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger:
Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home.
And freedom, oh freedom,
Well, that's just some people talkin'
Your prison is walking,
Through this world all alone.
And don't your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won't snow, the sun won't shine
It's hard to tell the night time from the day
You're loosin' all your highs and lows
Ain't it funny how the feeling,
Goes away?
Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, and open the gate
It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you,
You better let somebody love you,
You better let somebody love you,
You better let somebody love you,
Before it's too late.
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Other reviews
By Enkriko
The song that starts it all, "When The Man Comes Around," is a ballad that illustrates the day of judgment with resurrecting dead and the Man walking among them.
The strength of Reznor’s song here is rendered tired and creaky, accompanied by just a few piano notes; the quality of the sound is truly that of a march for the ghosts.
By cece65
Johnny’s sick and suffering voice gives chills in every nuance.
One of Johnny’s abilities was to make exceptional songs that were perhaps not particularly brilliant at their origin and give everything a touch of greatness.
