UNIVERZA V MARIBORU FILOZOFSKA FAKULTETA Oddelek za anglistiko in amerikanistiko DIPLOMSKO DELO Manica Doberšek Maribor, 2009 UNIVERZA V MARIBORU FILOZOFSKA FAKULTETA Oddelek za anglistiko in amerikanistiko Diplomsko delo JOHNNY CASH AND HIS LYRICS Mentor: Dr. Victor Kennedy, red. prof. Kandidatka: Manica Doberšek Maribor, 2009 Zahvala Zahvaljujem se svojemu mentorju, prof. dr. Victorju Kennedyju, za zanimivo idejo in možnost, da jo uresni čim, kot tudi za vse nasvete. Neizmerno hvala staršem za potrpljenje in podporo med študijem in še posebej med nastajanjem diplome. Hvaležna sem tudi Ani in Renati za vse skupne študentske dni, vzpodbude in pomo č ter Urošu, ki me je v najtežjih trenutkih znal nasmejati. Izjava Podpisana Manica Doberšek, rojena 26.9.1984, študentka Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Mariboru, smer angleški jezik s književnostjo in geografija, izjavljam, da je diplomsko delo z naslovom Johnny Cash and his Lyrics pri mentorju dr. Victorju Kennedyju, avtorsko delo. V diplomskem delu so uporabljeni viri in literatura korektno navedeni; teksti niso prepisani brez navedbe avtorjev. Manica Doberšek Štore, 12. 6. 2009 ABSTRACT The music and lyrics that Johnny Cash either signed his name to or lent his beautiful baritone voice have a special place in American, as well as in the world’s, music. The main purpose of the diploma is above all to critically analyse the lyrics of the songs that described his and many other’s lives. Cash’s own experiences, tragic personal stories, relationships between the sexes, minority problems, God, and awareness of transience of life are the most frequent themes that he devoted most of his attention to. The more sad and dramatic the story is, the more attractively Cash wraps it within humor. The survey of only a fragment of his rich collection reveals a man with an incomparable sense of opposites, which reflects in his life as in the stories of his characters. Criminals and Native Americans, who were in the American history highly despised, were most frequently celebrated in the songs. Johnny Cash is one of the rare musicians whose music is listened to by his coevals to generations just to be born, presidents and convicts. Key words: Johnny Cash, lyrics, poetry, interpretations; POVZETEK Glasba in besedila pod katera se je podpisal ali jim posodil svoj čudoviti baritonski glas Johnny Cash imajo tako v ameriški kot tudi svetovni glasbi prav posebno mesto. Cilj tega diplomskega dela je bila predvsem kriti čna analiza besedil njegovih pesmi, ki so zaznamovale njegovo življenje kot tudi mnoga druga. Lastne izkušnje, tragi čne osebne zgodbe, odnosi med spoloma, manjšinski problemi, Bog in zavedanja o človeški minljivosti so tematike, ki se jim je ta vsestranski umetnik najraje posve čal. In bolj kot je zgodba žalostna, dramati čna, lepše jo Cash zavije v humor. Pregled le del čka bogate zbirke razkriva človeka z neprimerljivim smislom za nasprotja, ki se odraža tako v njegovem življenju kot v zgodbah njegovih junakov. Najve čkrat so bili to kriminalci in domorodci, ki so v zgodovini Amerike tudi najbolj zani čevani. Johnny Cash je eden redkih glasbenikov čigar glasbo poslušajo tako njegovi vrstniki kot generacije, ki se šele rojevajo, predsedniki držav in kaznjenci. Klju čne besede: Johnny Cash, besedila pesmi, poezija, interpretacije pesmi; TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 2 HISTORY................................................................................................................ 2 2.1 USA IN THE 1950 S............................................................................................. 2 2.2 AMERICAN POETRY IN THE 1950 S AND 1960 S ................................................... 4 3 CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SONGS .......................................................... 6 3.1 “F OLSOM PRISON BLUES ” ................................................................................. 8 3.2 “F IVE FEET HIGH AND RISING ” ......................................................................... 10 3.3 “T HE MAN IN BLACK ”..................................................................................... 13 3.4 “T HE MAN COMES AROUND ”.......................................................................... 17 4 THE BALLADS.................................................................................................... 22 4.1 FEATURES OF THE BALLAD .............................................................................. 22 4.2 “T HE BALLAD OF IRA HAYES ” ........................................................................ 23 4.3 “G IVE MY LOVE TO ROSE ”.............................................................................. 26 4.4 “D ON ’T TAKE YOUR GUNS TO TOWN ”............................................................ 27 4.5 “D ELIA ’S GONE ” ............................................................................................. 29 5 HUMOR AND IRONY IN POEMS.................................................................... 31 5.1 “M EAN EYED CAT ” AND “B EANS FOR BREAKFAST ” ....................................... 31 5.2 “A BOY NAMED SUE ” ..................................................................................... 34 5.3 “O NE PIECE AT A TIME ” .................................................................................. 36 5.4 MURDER SONGS ............................................................................................... 39 6 SONGS THAT JOHNNY CASH INTERPRETED .......................................... 41 6.1 “O NE ” (U2) ..................................................................................................... 42 6.2 “H URT ” (N INE INCH NAILS ) ............................................................................ 44 7 JOHNNY CASH’S INFLUENCE ....................................................................... 47 8 THE REVIEW OF WALK THE LINE ............................................................... 50 9 CONCLUSION..................................................................................................... 54 10 WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED................................................................ 56 APPENDICES............................................................................................................... 61 1 INTRODUCTION I’m not a savior, and I’m not a saint. The man with the answers I certainly ain’t. I was not an enthusiastic fan of Johnny Cash and his music for all my life as one might think. I first heard of him only two years ago when I went paragliding with my friends. It was then when Vladi played Cash’s CD in his car. A few minutes went by and then I could not resist asking who performed the music, although I knew it was probably someone famous and it will be obvious that I am not well versed in music. He returned me a smile and asked me with his grown-up voice “You don’t know Johnny Cash?” Of course I do not, why would I be asking if I did? I started explaining that I liked what I heard and then he willingly lent me his CD which I have not returned since. I liked it too much and he did not mind. It does not happen that I like every song on an album, yet this one was an exception. I have played that CD over and over again. There were at least three songs on The Man Comes Around that made the hairs on the arms stand up, and while flying I just could not stop humming to myself. Since then I have listened to almost every song Johnny Cash performed, and I liked what I heard. The idea of writing a diploma about Cash’s poetry came by itself since his lyrics are powerful and somebody must speak up and reveal his mastery. He wrote lyrics that make you think and you can not forget his words. He was the voice for people who do not matter to most of the world but they become alive and real when you listen to his songs. It is also his capability of mixing humor and sad stories that made me like his poetry. Yet in the end he is not only a poet, he is also a remarkable musician with an outstanding legacy. He is known worldwide for his deep voice and the number of albums he recorded. He recorded more than 1500 songs in his life. Many of them describe what Johnny Cash in fact is, and with two of them he certainly says enough. He is A Man in Black and A Singer of Songs. 1 2 HISTORY 2.1 USA in the 1950s Johnny R. Cash was born in rural, south-central Arkansas, on February 26, 1932. He started his career in the 1950s. This was the post-war time since WW2 ended soon after the dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombs did not end just the war but also nearly 20 years of economic stagnation that was caused by the Depression and war. This was a time when soldiers came home and the economy was thriving. Everybody not only had a job but had a higher paid job and could afford much a higher living standard. Veterans started to build houses for their families in the suburbs. This was also the start of the baby boom and the time of the Korean War, in which the US participated, lasted from 1950 until 1953. The 1950s were an extremely influential time era in American history because of Rock and Roll, the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, new fashions, the television, advancements in medicine, and suburban life was much more functional than any other decade in American history (“1950’s”). Rock and roll was a very important “invention” because it made people forget about their morals so that they could have fun and it also led to many types of music