Posts Tagged ‘Johnny Cash’
Roseanne Cash Defended Her Dad
In August of 2008, during the Presidential election campaign, Roseanne Cash defended her dad. This is old news but I only just saw it, so I’m sharing.
When you have a dad as famous as Johnny Cash, you have to be a bit more vigilant about people taking his name in vain. In the case of my father, it kind of doesn’t matter, although I have been contacted by a couple of people on Facebook about my long-deceased dad. However, while those people may be saying something about my dad that isn’t true, that (a) wouldn’t really bother me and (b) they are unlikely to claim that he would support a particular Presidential candidate. If for some reason they did make that claim, I doubt anyone would care.
Not so in the case of Roseanne Cash’s dad. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Johnny Cash. Had kind of a big music career.
In 2008, country nudnik John Rich proclaimed that “Johnny Cash would have been a John McCain supporter if he was still around.” Roseanne replied by saying “screw you John Rich”. Well, she used a few more words than that.
“It is appalling to me that people still want to invoke my father’s name, five years after his death, to ascribe beliefs, ideals, values and loyalties to him that cannot possibly be determined and to try to further their own agendas by doing so. I knew my father pretty well, at least better than some of those who entitle themselves to his legacy and his supposed ideals, and even I would not presume to say publicly what I ‘know’ he thought or felt.”
“Screw you John Rich” actually sums it up pretty well.
I’m amused by the idea that someone would vote for anyone based on the endorsement of a celebrity. I can understand seeing a movie because a reviewer whose opinion you trust says that the movie is good. But I didn’t vote for Barack Obama because Bruce Springsteen said I should. I voted for him because he wasn’t John McCain. (OK, I liked Obama well enough. I just didn’t have the delusional idea that he was going to save our souls. But that’s another topic.)
As for Johnny Cash, who knows who he would have supported in the last Presidential race. Wikipedia says that Cash “was friendly with every United States President starting with Richard Nixon.” But before you say “ah-HA!” and declare The Man in Black to be a card-carrying member of the GOP, read this: “He was closest with Jimmy Carter, who became a very close friend. He stated that he found all of them personally charming, noting that this was probably essential to getting oneself elected.” That information is from Cash: The Autobiography, according to Wikipedia.
Bottom line — when it comes to the potential voting preferences of famous dead parents, don’t take the word of self-serving singers.
Five Year Old Sings Folsom Prison Blues
I discovered Johnny Cash somewhat late in my life. Not that my life is over, mind you. But I only started sampling the Man in Black around the time that he came out with his brilliant cover of the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt.”
This kid, however, appears to have been exposed to Cash much earlier. Like five years old. Not only is he familiar with the music, he can sing Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Do we really believe the little guy when he sings, “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die”? No. But that’s OK. As Hannah points out over at Strollerderby, “After you check out little Wesley singing the Folsom Prison Blues at a coffee shop in Seattle, I think you’ll agree that this is far too awesome to be inappropriate.”
Here’s Cash doing the song himself. Watch both videos, then give me 500 words comparing and contrasting the two styles.
