Folsom Prison Blues
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"Folsom Prison Blues" is an American country music song written by Johnny Cash in the early 1950s and originally recorded with his trio in 1956 for the Sun Records label. The song combines elements from two popular folk genres, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash would continue to mine for the rest of his career.
In the lyrics, the jailed protagonist listens to the whistle of the train outside his cell and recounts his deeds (this song's most famous line is undoubtedly "I shot a man in Reno/just to watch him die"); imagines the free people inside the train; and dreams of what he would do if he were free. "I know I had it coming/I know I can't be free," sings the imprisoned man. "But those people keep a'moving/and that's what tortures me."
Cash included the song in his repertoire for decades; the definitive live performance is considered to be the opening song of a concert recorded at Folsom Prison itself on January 13, 1968. This version was eventually released on the At Folsom Prison album the same year. That opening song is more up-tempo than the Sun studio recording, as befits a concert-opening number. However, the recording's most notable feature — the whoops from the audience at the "Reno" line — was actually added in post-production, according to Michael Streissguth. A special on the Walk the Line DVD indicates that the prisoners were careful not to cheer at any of Cash's comments about the prison itself, fearing reprisal from guards.
Cash was inspired to write this song after seeing the movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951) while serving in West Germany in the United States Air Force. Cash recounted how he came up with the "Reno" line: "I sat with my pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have for killing another person, and that's what came to mind." [link]
The song borrows heavily, both lyrically and melodically, from a Gordon Jenkins composition on his 1953 Seven Dreams concept album (the Jenkins song is often referred to as "Crescent City Blues"). Jenkins later reportedly filed an infringement lawsuit and received a settlement after Cash's 1968 live recording achieved widespread success.
This song, coupled with Cash's known drug and alcohol abuse problems, helped give rise to the myth that Johnny Cash served prison time.
The Folsom Prison Conundrum
Astute listeners have puzzled over the fact that the protagonist is in a California state prison but committed his crime in Reno, Nevada. Normal jurisdictional procedures would require that the sentence be carried out in the Nevada prison system, and not in California. Cash never felt the need the explain this discrepency. Perhaps he was referring to Reno, California (Zip Code: 89502), which seems unlikely. This conundrum is also mentioned in the Walk the Line film with several outlandish speculations offerred as possible explanations.References
- Streissguth, Michael. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece, Da Capo Press (2004). ISBN 0306813386.
- [The lyrics]
- [}}}] at YouTube circa 1970 at the Grand Ole Opry
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