Johnny Cash: American IV: The Man Comes Around

This month instead of a band review, I have decided to write a review of the last album recorded by legendary musician, Johnny Cash.  This album came at the end of his life, after he had walked in the ways of the world, repented, and become a changed man.  In the liner notes inside the album, he states: “I am persuaded that nothing can separate me from my love of God, my wife, and my music.”  The album is rather experimental for Cash and involves covers of songs by the Beatles, Sting, Simon and Garfunkel, along with collaborations with Marty Stewart, Don Henley, Fiona Apple, and Trent Reznor.  The album deals almost solely with death, taking the concept every direction imaginable.

The first song and title track is straight from the Bible.  Cash claimed that he spent more time on this song than any other that he ever wrote.  It begins with the reading of a passage from Revelation and then moves to discuss the return of Christ.  The song mentions that some will be forgiven and some will not, some will live and some will die.  The underlying question is “Are you prepared for what will happen when the Lord returns?”  The imagery is beautifully done in a style that could come from none other than the man in black.  This song ends as it began with a reading from the final book of the Bible.

The second tune, “Hurt” is a cover of the Nine Inch Nails track.  It deals with pain in life, the dullness of the senses that comes over time, and the fact that everyone lets others down sometimes.  It seems to be a song that anyone who has become de-sensitized to the pain in the world or is approaching the final years of life can relate to.

This is followed by the song “Give My Love to Rose.”  It is about the death of a man who had just been released from prison after paying for a crime. A theme that will appear several more times before the album has completed its final note.  This story is about the family members of this man who live on.  The next song is a cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”  Fiona Apple lends her voice to this track.  The tune brings with it a sense of laying your life down for someone else, or at least being the person’s strength in times of trouble.

The fifth track, “I Hung My Head,” is a cover of a Sting song.  It tells the story of a man who accidentally murders his brother, orphans his children, and widows his wife.  He accepts responsibility for his actions and will face the consequences by being hanged.  The song describes a rider coming to take him away, which brings back imagery used in the first song concerning the return of Christ.  The next cover is of the song “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”  This is an extremely slow track, but it describes a beautiful, unadulterated, love between two people.  Then comes a cover of the song “Personal Jesus.”  You guessed it, the Depeche Mode tune mentioned in the previous section.  However, instead of poking fun at the gospel, Cash gives the song a more somber feeling, extending the invitation for someone to come to know Jesus. Following this is a pleasant cover of “My Life,” originally performed and written by the Beatles.  After this the album takes a turn with a string of six songs about death.

“Sam Hall” tells the story of one man who killed another and will also be hung.  Not like the man in “Give My Love to Rose,” Sam Hall is unrepentant and desires to curse the world as he dies.  After every verse in this song he shouts the phrase, “damn your eyes,” to whomever he is dealing, whether jury, judge, sheriff, wife, or crowd.  Sam is a man who hates everyone, “one and all.”  He also acknowledges the fact that he will be going to Hell, yet he is still not moved to forgiveness.  This is followed by the tune “Danny Boy,” a song sung from the point of someone who has died concerning people who visit his grave after death.

The eleventh song is a cover of the Eagles song “Desperado” featuring Don Henley. “Desperado” is a song about a loner who is imprisoned by the fact that he must be alone in the world.  “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” possibly the saddest song in country music history, is the next song.  “Streets of Laredo ” then follows.  This is a song about a cowboy who is shot and will die.  He did something he should not have, and the dying cowboy expresses the concern he has for his mother and the name of the man who has shot him.

“Tear Stained Letter” comes next and is about a broken relationship that the man is trying to mend by extending an offer to his wife to give the love one more chance.  He will take her back in spite of what she did.  That is comparable to the way that God the Father has taken back the church, through Christ’s blood.  The final track contains the song, “We’ll Meet Again.”  While it is fitting for believers who will see Cash again in Heaven, it is also a fitting song for anyone who must be separated from those they love for any amount of time.  As the song says, “we’ll meet again some sunny day.”

I have chosen to write on this album for June because it is very moving, well recorded, and has one of the most powerful messages on the whole of any album I have listened to in the last several years.  God was clearly at work in his life as he recorded these songs.  After listening to this album comes a choice.  Do you want to live your life wickedly embracing the eternal destiny of Hell, responsibly by facing the consequences of all your decisions, repentantly by asking for forgiveness from your sins and changing your life, or in numbness showing no emotion for the world and the people around you?  On that note, this letter will now come to a close.

If you have questions or concerns, please drop me an email.

In Christ’s Love, 

Scott Shiffer