Line #12 YMMV/JohnnyCash


1	* AdaptationDisplacement: [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor]] recounts the feeling at hearing Cash's rendition of "Hurt" as being like losing a girlfriend, since the song now practically [[CoveredUp belongs to Johnny Cash]].
2	* ArchivePanic: 54 studio albums, plus thirteen collaborative albums, eleven gospel albums, nine live albums, four Christmas albums, two soundtrack albums and dozens of guest appearances on other songs. Want to take the easy way out and get a GreatestHitsAlbum? There are 104. Go on, pick one.
3	* AudienceAlienatingEra: 1971–94, the period between the end of ''The Johnny Cash Show'' and ''American Recordings''. Cash ''did'' release some grade A material during this period, but between various religious pursuits on one hand, and occasional relapses into substance abuse on the other, he wasn't always focused on music and the quality of his recordings became more erratic.
4	* BrokenBase: While not a very vocal example as the song is beloved anyway, the question of whether or not the noticeable [[LoudnessWar loss in audio quality]] at the end of "Hurt" is a good thing or bad thing pops up occasionally. One camp feels it adds to the song, others don't mind it, and some feel it ruins an otherwise excellent song. Not helped by the fact that nobody knows if it's a case of Cash's performance being too amazing for the recording equipment, just someone screwing up in post-production, or if it's because Cash's voice was becoming too weak for the mic to pick up as much.
5	* CompleteMonster: "[[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YOSU5WMkOpo The Ballad of Annie Palmer]]": Annie Palmer is just as monstrous as she was in [[Myth/TheWhiteWitchOfRoseHall the original myth]]. The owner of Rose Hall Plantation, a sugarcane plantation where about [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil 5,000 enslaved people worked]], Palmer's slaves all lived in fear of her under the constant fear of [[ATasteOfTheLash whipping]]. [[BlackWidow Annie Palmer]] also [[TilMurderDoUsPart murdered her three husbands]] and, despite having died hundreds of years ago, the narrator feels her presence at her house and hears her murdered lovers calling out in the night.
6	* CoveredUp:
7	** Believe it or not, Cash didn't write "Ring of Fire" or "A Boy Named Sue". The latter's true writer (and the first person to record it) may come as a shock to some--it was none other than Creator/ShelSilverstein. And the co-writer of Ring of Fire? His future wife, June Carter. In fact, it's often alleged that Carter wrote the song about her relationship with Cash, as both were married to other people at that point. Cash's version is, however, still a cover as June's sister Anita Carter was the first to record it.
8	** Of all people, ''Music/RayStevens'' released "Sunday Morning Coming Down" before Johnny did.
9	** His cover of the Music/NineInchNails song "Hurt", is also usually more recognized than the original, to the point where many books [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer have incorrectly attributed "Hurt" to Cash]] and believe his recording is [[NewerThanTheyThink far older than its 2002 release]]. Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor wrote the song and recorded it in 1994. The confusion is mostly created by wrongheaded journalists who can't believe that [[SmallReferencePools Cash would record a song by an industrial band]], when such covers [[PlayingAgainstType were one of the main features]] of his ''American Recordings'' albums.
10	*** Even Trent Reznor acknowledges that Cash's version was like "I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore..." after hearing it for the first time. Considering many consider "Hurt" (and its accompanying music video) to be one of Cash's masterworks and one of the best recordings of the 2000s decade, it's doubtful he has much reason to complain about this.
11	** Johnny's cover of Music/SherylCrow's "Redemption Day" seems to be the more popular version.
12	** "I Hung My Head" was originally Music/{{Sting}}, but few people have even heard of the original.
13	** "Cocaine Blues" is a case of [[CoveredUp Covering Up]] a CoveredUp song. The original was recorded in 1947 by W.A. Nichols' Rhythm Aces, then Roy Hogsed had a [[CountryMusic country]] hit with it one year later.
14	** Cash recorded a number of other songs you would not normally associate with this style, ranging from the Music/RayCharles classics "I Got a Woman" and "What'd I Say" in the 1960s to, of all things, the Music/DepecheMode song "Personal Jesus" not long before his death.
15	** During the 1969-1971 run of ''The Johnny Cash Show'' on TV, Cash performed duets with many of his guests. Perhaps one of the most unexpected was his linking up with Music/TonyJoeWhite to perform a surprisingly good version of White's original version of "Polk Salad Annie" (a song that has since become associated with 1970s-era Music/ElvisPresley).
16	** "Streets of Laredo", recorded by Cash for one of his concept albums in the mid-1960s and a popular part of his TV show and live performances from the 1970s onward, is another example of a song that Cash made his own, despite it being a cover of a standard that had been recorded by many artists in the years before Cash did it, including his contemporary Music/MartyRobbins.
17	** "Delia's Gone" from the first ''American Recordings'' is the most famous version of the song today, covering up not only the [[http://singout.org/2014/02/24/delia-delias-gone-a-digital-compendium-1900-1992/ long history of a ballad that]] stretches back almost a century with stops in the Southern United States and the Bahamas, but Cash's own 1962 version of the song.
18	** The Kingston Trio first released "Jackson" in 1963, four years before the Johnny/June version.
19	** "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" was written and first recorded by Peter [=LaFarge=]. Cash did some of [=LaFarge=]'s other songs about the plight of Native Americans as well.
20	* EpicRiff:
21	** He built his whole musical career around the famous "boom-chicka-boom" guitar riff of Luther Perkins.
22	** The "Ring of Fire" trumpets may be the single greatest ear worm in the history of recorded music.
23	* FanNickname: He's often called "the Man in Black" due to his signature black clothing.
24	* HilariousInHindsight: In "Katy Too", one of the [[ReallyGetsAround many women]] Johnny is foolin' around with is... Sue!
25	* MagnificentBastard:
26	** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gbtm-93oqE A Boy Named Sue]]", from ''At San Quentin'': [[DisappearedDad The father]] is a {{Gunslinger}} who abandoned his family after his son's birth, but not before giving his son the embarrassing name "[[EmbarrassingFirstName Sue]]". Wanting Sue to grow up strong and smart in a rough world by beating up people who made fun of his name, along with having no father figure to look up to throughout most of his life and when finally encountered by an enraged Sue decades later, the father puts up a good, brutal fight. When Sue draws his gun on him, the father smiles, knowing he's made his son tough, even [[DefeatMeansFriendship reconciling with his boy afterwards]].
27	** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmWulPPWYDI&pp=ygUYTWVhbiBhcyBIZWxsIEpvaG5ueSBDYXNo Mean as Hell]]": [[{{Satan}} The Devil]], though chained for a thousand years, refuses to complain or bemoan his circumstances, instead focusing on creating his own HellOnEarth where he can torment the souls of men. Tricking [[{{God}} the Lord]], with whom he has a friendly rapport, into giving up a parcel of seemingly worthless land and even providing some water to make it more hospitable, the Devil set out "to make a good Hell, and he succeeded", changing the environment and wildlife to make the desert's already uninviting climate even more dangerous and trying. Proving himself as fair as he is cruel, the Devil nevertheless makes his Hell a place where people can survive, provided they can be "mean as hell" and prove themselves capable of enduring his torments.
28	* MemeticMutation: The famous photo of Johnny [[https://www.nme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/SnapGalleries180311.jpg flipping off]] the camera.
29	* NightmareFuel: The LastNoteNightmare at the end of "The Man Comes Around."
30	--> [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts]],
31	--> [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt And I looked and behold, a pale horse]]:
32	--> '''[[TheGrimReaper And his name that sat on him was Death]], [[TheLegionsOfHell and Hell followed with him]].'''
33	** It was the shift to a tinny, scratchy "old-timey record" sound that made it so creepy- especially when the speaking stops and the scratching gets louder...
34	** "25 Minutes to Go", which puts the listener in the shoes of someone counting down the minutes before their execution.
35	* QuestionableCasting: Can lead to {{Narm}} or NarmCharm for the more generously inclined. His ''Gospel Road'' BibleTimes film can come off as this due to the apparently last-minute casting of the director as what some have joked as the whitest, blondest Jesus ever filmed. In recent decades, Biblical movies tend to try and have the actors "look right" for the time and place, and so to modern eyes this can undermine the sincere effort up to the location shooting in Israel itself.
36	* SignatureSong:
37	** Arguably it's "I Walk the Line" (to the point where it named [[Film/WalkTheLine his biopic]]), "Folsom Prison Blues," "Ring of Fire," or "Hurt."
38	** "A Boy Named Sue" as well, along with "The Man Comes Around" and "God's Gonna Cut You Down" is on the fringe of being one.
39	** Lest we forget; "Man in Black" (though it never really took as a signature song and wasn't performed very often by the time the 80s rolled around due in part to its dated lyrics referencing the Vietnam War).
40	** When examining Cash's entire recorded output, the song he seemed to be most fond of was "I Still Miss Someone" as he recorded it in studio and on stage more frequently than any other song in his repertoire.
41	* SongAssociation: "God's Gonna Cut You Down" was featured during the intro of "Operation Swordbreaker" mission in ''VideoGame/Battlefield3'' and in "Zero Hero, the Bonebreaker" trailer for ''VideoGame/{{Wreckfest}}''. A remixed version was used in the Gamescom trailer for ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'' as well.
42	** "[[Series/TheDukesOfHazzard General Lee]]" showed up in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' via "Rebel Radio".
43	** "Ring of Fire" was heard in ''[[VideoGame/TonyHawksUnderground Tony Hawk's Underground 2]]'', ''VideoGame/MafiaIII'' and ''[[VideoGame/RockBand Rock Band 3]]'' via "The Best of Johnny Cash" DownloadableContent.
44	** "Rusty Cages" was featured in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' and ''VideoGame/Back4Blood''.
45	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "Folsom Prison Blues" is largely a rewrite of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_City_Blues "Crescent City Blues"]] by pop composer/bandleader Gordon Jenkins, changing the musical style and lyrical context. Cash reportedly wanted to give Jenkins a credit on the original 1956 release but Sun Records owner Sam Phillips told him not to worry about a lawsuit. Jenkins found out much later and did in fact sue, but it got settled out of court. The album the Jenkins song came from, 1954's ''Seven Dreams'', featuring songs linked by narration and dialogue, seems to have been an influence on Cash's later ConceptAlbum work.

Context YMMV / JohnnyCash