It wasn’t until I saw Johnny Cash buried that the loss of
\ncountry music’s greatest voice finally started to sink in. Though
\nthe loss definitely hit the weekend after the news reports came
\nout, it still felt that it was just part of his mystique, his act.
\nFrom his salt of the earth voice to the haunting video “Hurt,”
\ndeath always seemed to be a part of who Cash was.<\/p>\n
During the weekend following his death, I must have listened to
\nAmerican IV: The Man Comes Around<\/i>, the last full-length
\nrecording Cash did with producer Rick Rubin, five or six times.
\nThere were better albums that represented Cash’s full aura (check
\nout his Folsom or San Quentin prison recordings) or even the first
\nalbum of the American sessions. Still,
\nAmerican IV: The Man Comes Around<\/i> was the first choice for
\nthe mourning process, mostly because Cash likely knew this was his
\nfinal full-length recording.<\/p>\n
\nThe Man Comes Around<\/i> follows the same, simple formula Rubin
\nand Cash followed for about a decade: do some wicked covers, mix in
\nsome newer material, all with minimal arrangements. While the
\nfourth outing has some predictability problems, that will still not
\nprevent the hair on your arms from standing from listening to
\n“Hurt,” the giddy pleasure of listening to one of the most unlikely
\ncovers in Cash’s career (“Personal Jesus”) and some originals that
\nshow Cash was still making relevant music up until his death (the
\ntitle track and “Sam Hall”).<\/p>\n
Of course, the song that will forever define
\nThe Man Comes Around<\/i> will be his cover of Nine Inch Nails’
\n“Hurt.” (Memo to MTV video-voting panel: sucks to be you right now.
\nHeyah, I’m one of the biggest Missy Elliott fans out there, but
\neven if Cash were to have lived another ten years, the video “Hurt”
\nwould have still had more of an impact and lingered longer in
\nviewers’ heads than Elliott’s “Work It.” Call it MTV’s version of
\nchoosing
\nShakespeare in Love<\/i> over
\nSaving Private Ryan<\/i>.) Cash gave “Hurt” a bedrock depth to a
\nsong that was in danger of fading into obscurity. Sorry Trent
\nReznor, Cash now forever owns “Hurt.” However, it’s a fair
\ntradeoff; Cash’s barren, haunting version showcased what a gifted
\nsongwriter Reznor is. Far too many older critics have criticized
\nReznor for being a whiny byproduct of Generation X. But Cash’s
\naching delivery of every lyric pulled listeners in forced them to
\nabsorb lyrics that are commonly buried under layers of white noise.
\nDepeche Mode and Soundgarden owe similar debts to Cash as he gave a
\nlegitimate voice to the underappreciated songwriting talents of
\nthese bands.<\/p>\n
Of course, some versions do not work as well. Fiona Apple has a
\nfantastic voice, but “Bridge Over Troubled Water” wasn’t the best
\nsong for a duet between the two distinct voices. Cash does a fairly
\nstraightforward cover of Sting’s “I Hung My Head” and the Beatles’
\n“In My Life,” but he has done far better covers.<\/p>\n
While Cash was extremely frail during the recording session of
\nThe Man Comes Around<\/i>, his voice remained powerful enough to
\nkeep your attention for all 15 tracks. The funeral imagery of
\n“Streets of Laredo” leaves the listener with an eerie chill, but
\nthe closer, “We’ll Meet Again” ends
\nThe Man Comes Around<\/i> on a mischievous, slightly humorous
\nnote, especially with the unnecessary, but charming addition of
\nbackground singers at the final stanza.<\/p>\n
Ever since Rubin teamed with Cash, music geeks have obsessed
\nabout what tunes and tunes deserved to get the Cash treatment.
\nRadiohead’s perceived chilly, distanced music could have been given
\na dose of biblical warmth by Cash, he could have given a few more
\nlayers of goth to an Interpol song or shined a light on the
\nsongwriting talents of The Flaming Lips. Sadly, none of these dream
\ncovers will ever come to be. In a few months, Universal plans on
\nreleasing a full box set of Cash’s American recordings. It’s well
\nworth the investment. Until then, pick up
\nThe Man Comes Around<\/i>. Even if you plan on getting the box
\nset, it’s worth buying twice and serves as a fitting end to one of
\nthe pillars of modern music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5664],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-37707","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-johnny-cash","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37707"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}