Johnny Cash: Why I Wear Black

[book_worm]

Johnny Cash - Man In Black

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

[Elwood P Dowd]

1. I miss Johnny Cash.

Wonder what he thinks of the absolute shit they call country music today?

[NYC_SKP]

2. K/R Actually, we do lose more than 100 veterans/week to suicide.

18 successful suicides per day.

18 veterans commit suicide each day
Apr. 22, 2010 - 02:56PM | Last Updated: Apr. 22, 2010 - 02:56PM |

Troubling new data show there are an average of 950 suicide attempts each month by veterans who are receiving some type of treatment from the Veterans Affairs Department.

http://www.armytimes.com/article/20100422/NEWS/4220330/18-veterans-commit-suicide-each-day

He's a poet, a folk hero.

Thanks.

[Agschmid]

5. Thats a horrifying statistic.

[Octafish]

9. He was describing the war in Vietnam.

Each week the tee vee would tab up the score:



Prophetic, also, going by what is happening today.

[NYC_SKP]

10. That war never ended. (nt)

[Octafish]

11. It really hasn't.

The "Money trumps peace" mentality is why.

Thanks, NYC_SKP, for remembering who pays the price for the warmongers' greed.

[OldRedneck]

3. Iris Dement: "Wasteland of the Free"

Living in the wasteland of the free...

We got preachers dealing in politics and diamond mines
and their speech is growing increasingly unkind
They say they are Christ's disciples
but they don't look like Jesus to me
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got politicians running races on corporate cash
Now don't tell me they don't turn around and kiss them peoples' ass
You may call me old-fashioned
but that don't fit my picture of a true democracy
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got CEO's making two hundred times the workers' pay
but they'll fight like hell against raising the minimum wage
and If you don't like it, mister, they'll ship your job
to some third-world country 'cross the sea
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

Living in the wasteland of the free
where the poor have now become the enemy
Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones
Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy
Living in the wasteland of the free

We got little kids with guns fighting inner city wars
So what do we do, we put these little kids behind prison doors
and we call ourselves the advanced civilization
that sounds like crap to me
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got high-school kids running 'round in Calvin Klein and Guess
who cannot pass a sixth-grade reading test
but if you ask them, they can tell you
the name of every crotch on MTV
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We kill for oil, then we throw a party when we win
Some guy refuses to fight, and we call that the sin
but he's standing up for what he believes in
and that seems pretty damned American to me
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

Living in the wasteland of the free
where the poor have now become the enemy
Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones
Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy
Living in the wasteland of the free

While we sit gloating in our greatness
justice is sinking to the bottom of the sea
Living in the wasteland of the free
Living in the wasteland of the free
Living in the wasteland of the free


http://www.absolutelyrics.com/lyrics/view/iris_dement/wasteland_of_the_free/

[NBachers]

7. And you can listen to it here. It's the most truthful, subversive, right-on song I've heard

http://wastelandofthefree.com/

Thanks, OldRedneck

[awoke_in_2003]

6. 'till things are brighter, I'm the man in black"...

Probably the greatest song in America's history. The big man looking out for those who are oppressed. As for me, the greatest rock song is Kashmir. The greatest song about taking care of our fellow human beings is this. And Johnny's voice is haunting.

[Egalitarian Thug]

8. One of the good ones. K&R n/t

[WI_DEM]

12. a true artist