Johnny Cash had a tumultuous life, with him dealing with drug addiction, heartbreak and being The Man in Black. This was reflected in his songs, which followed themes of pain and struggle, with his dulcet tones adding a sense of melancholy. Despite the sad subject, his songs are iconic, even now, so how well do you know his lyrics?
Johnny Cash’s first single was Hey Porter, a song he had written himself but, sadly, failed to impress the producers.
The track was released anyway, telling the story of a passenger wanting updates from his train porter about the journey.
After this, Cry! Cry! Cry!, a rockabilly song, was the second recording, and this began a long and successful career, with producers and fans responding well to his individual musical style.
The words in his songs are often more like storytelling – but can you complete the line to these iconic lyrics and name the song?
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Questions:
1. Complete the lyric: “I hear the train a comin’/It’s rolling round the bend”
2. Complete the lyric: “And you could have it all/My empire of dirt”
3. Complete the lyric: “You’ll call for me but I’m gonna tell you bye, bye, bye”
4. Complete the lyric: “He musta thought that it was quite a joke/And it got a lot of laughs from lots of folks”
5. Complete the lyric: “At daylight would you tell that engineer to slow it down”
6. Complete the lyric: “She was tops in all they said/It never once went to her head”
7. Complete the lyric: “Get a rock and roll feeling in your bones”
8. Complete the lyric: “Save your love through loneliness/Save your love through sorrow”
9. Complete the lyric: “I keep the ends out for the tie that binds”
10. Complete the lyric: “Then I walked across the street/And caught the Sunday smell of someone’s fryin’ chicken”
11. Complete the lyric: “Love is a burning thing”
12. Complete the lyric: “He changed his clothes and shined his boots and combed his dark hair down”
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Answers
1. “And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when” – from Folsom Prison Blues
2. “I will let you down/I will make you hurt” – from Hurt
3. “When I turn around and walk away you’ll cry, cry, cry” – from Cry, Cry, Cry
4. “Seems I had to fight my whole life through” – from A Boy Named Sue
5. “Or better still, just stop the train/’Cause I want to look around” – from Hey Porter
6. “She had everything it seems/Not a care, this teenage queen2 – from Ballad of a Teenage Queen
7. “Put taps on your toes, and get goin’/Get rhythm!” – from Get Rhythm
8. “I gave you my onlyness/Give me your tomorrow” – from If I Were a Carpenter
9. “Because you’re mine, I walk the line” – from I Walk the Line
10. “And Lord it took me back to something that I lost/Somewhere, somehow along the way” – from Sunday Morning Coming Down
11. “And it makes a fiery ring” – from Ring of Fire
12. “And his mother cried as he walked out, ‘Don’t take your guns to town, son’” – from Don’t Take Your Guns to Town
