mudratmark:

When I was growing up, my father was a big country music fan - perhaps less so now, but at the time I don’t recall hearing too much else. No matter how near or far we were driving, hopping into the car or truck almost guaranteed a mixtape or 3 of the “outlaws” - Waylon Jennings in particular. I like Waylon fine, but Johnny Cash was the one that always kept my attention.

There was just something about his songs … lyrically, many of his songs felt distilled down to the barest elements; not “simple,” just trimmed of anything unnessasary or overtly flowery. So few made efforts to do so that it stuck out to me, though admittedly I’m sure the timbre of his voice aided in the starkness of many of those songs.

I’m sure back then one of the reasons I liked him was for his song “A Boy Named Sue,” partly because he swore, partly because it was kind of funny, and probably because I grew up with an odd name as well (Jed) so I could relate. (Y’know, as much as an 8 year old can relate to a grown man seeking out to kill his father out of spite in a dingy bar-room because he gave him a girls name and left he and his mother to fend for themselves.)

Even today, Cash by far has the biggest share of my music collection.

I added a few my favorite of videos pulled from youtube below .

Because, y’know.