Loose Leaf Notes

Johnny Cash is an unlikely guru, but after recently covering a Johnny Cash Birthday Bash at the Floyd Country Store for the local paper, I did some research and discovered the truth of what Bob Dylan said about him,  “Johnny was the North Star; you could guide your ship by him.”

I was late in arriving at the tribute concert, where locals, most dressed in Johnny’s signature black, performed Cash’s songs on stage.   There were awards for best performances and the best dressed-performance (the winners are pictured above and are Linda Dodge-Bazeley, Beth Spillman and Sonny Methany).

I’ve always liked Johnny as a musician and an individual.  He was the kind of guy who was against the Vietnam War but entertained the troops. He had down-home common sense and empathy for others, and, although he never identified himself with either political party, he was against the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq.

Iraq, it was on his mind when he was sick and was put in a medically induced coma two weeks before the invasion.   When he woke up, it was the first thing still on his mind. His daughter, Roseanne Cash, reports that he reached to pull the TV towards him and looked at her questioning.  “It happened, dad,” she said, and he answered “No! No!”

In the past I have quoted Billy Collins on poetry and Michael Meade on soul and destiny.     I never expected to be quoting Johnny Cash, but as wise men go, he’s right up there.  Here are a few quotes from the “man in black” who passed away in 2003 at the age of 71. His birthday is today.

– I never did understand the resentment about Country artists “going pop.” Either you’ve got what it takes to appeal to a whole lot of people, or you don’t.

– As far as the war in Vietnam is concerned, that war just made me sick. I’m not supporting that war or any other war.

– The best way to say anything is just to say it.

– Sometimes I am two people. Johnny is the nice one. Cash causes all the trouble. They fight.

– After about three lessons the voice teacher said, “Don’t take voice lessons. Do it your way.”

– I wear black for the poor and the beaten down, livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town.

– My arms are too short to box with God.

– The Klan is despicable, filthy, dirty, unkind. It’s a shame sometimes that we have all these freedoms, ’cause freedom allows them to exist. I’d love to see them all thrown in prison.

– If you’re so heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good.

– I didn’t vote for Mr. Bush. Let’s leave it at that.

 Post note: Watch a video of the Johnny Cash Birthday Bash HERE.