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Artist:Johnny Cash [ more ]
Song:Folsom Prison Blues
Album:Essential Johnny Cash [ info ]
Released:1964
Last Played:May 24, 2013 - 01:40
Avg. Rating:8.9  (Total Ratings: 395)
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Ratings Dist:
1 votes: 2 (0.51%)2 votes: 1 (0.25%)3 votes: 1 (0.25%)4 votes: 4 (1%)5 votes: 6 (1.5%)6 votes: 15 (3.8%)7 votes: 15 (3.8%)8 votes: 64 (16%)9 votes: 117 (30%)10 votes: 170 (43%)
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41 comments for this song:spacerLog in above to post your comment

ofanansky
Posted: May 24, 2013 - 01:42 

My 7th grade daughter told me her English teacher loves Johnny Cash and played this song for them in class. We live in Israel, so she was one of the few native English speakers who understood the words. But still.
Lazarus
(Bethany)
Posted: Feb 18, 2013 - 20:24 


Everybody in my church loves this song...

GeneP59
(On the edge of tomorrow looking back at yesterday.)
Posted: May 11, 2012 - 13:47 

All my Cell mates are dancing with they're shiv's held high. {#Lol}
cc_rider
(Austin Texas. Y'all.)
Posted: May 11, 2012 - 13:44 

 calypsus_1 wrote: 
This may be my favorite version. He really lets it rip.
unclehud
(300 feet above the planet)
Posted: Feb 06, 2012 - 11:08 

Love the wide range of music on this site!
d-don
(Oregon)
Posted: Feb 06, 2012 - 10:58 

Gotta love Johnny's "I'll kick your ass, son!" stare on the album cover. Johnny was, and still is, The Man.
martinc
(Ottawa Canada)
Posted: Feb 06, 2012 - 10:57 

Saw Roger Daltry recently. After doing the entire Tommy album he did some WHo hits and a great Cash medley.
cinwood
Posted: Dec 04, 2011 - 20:49 

{#Bananajam}
Oh man I love Johnny.
MiracleDrug
(Earth)
Posted: Nov 03, 2011 - 08:46 

Warden: Try not to sing anything that reminds them they are in prison.

Cash: Did you think they forgot?

{#Shhh}

ch83575
Posted: Nov 03, 2011 - 06:24 

 RickyBobby wrote:
Didn't even know I liked Johnny Cash. Thanks RP!

Is it normal for me to want to have a couple of beers when I hear this song?
 
As long as you are using the beers to wash down some uppers I think you will be fine.
RickyBobby
(Oxford Mills, Ontario - We have a Wal-Mart you know)
Posted: Nov 03, 2011 - 06:15 

Didn't even know I liked Johnny Cash. Thanks RP!

Is it normal for me to want to have a couple of beers when I hear this song?
LowPhreak
(United Corporate States of Neo-Feudal Amurika, Inc.)
Posted: Sep 01, 2011 - 07:29 

 Daveinbawlmer wrote:

Badassed to the Core.
 
Plagiarized to the core.

mrgus
Posted: Sep 01, 2011 - 07:18 

OK, if he shot a man in Reno, Nevada, why is he in a California prison?
sirdroseph
(Yes)
Posted: Sep 01, 2011 - 07:16 

Boy howdy, this is good. 9
(former member)
(hotel in Las Vegas)
Posted: Jul 31, 2011 - 21:32 



This song is soooo good for the ears...


calypsus_1
Posted: Feb 28, 2011 - 20:55 

akousa
(North Coast, USA)
Posted: Feb 24, 2011 - 06:19 

Great song. Please play the original Sun recording and not this later version.
calypsus_1
Posted: Nov 25, 2010 - 19:53 


Johnny Cash - ICONIC by ~ICONCollectibles
©2009-2010 ~ICONCollectibles

Johnny Cash Deep in Reflection, Oct. 1959

Photographed by Don Hunstein

After three years as Sun Records' most consistently top-selling performer, the outlaw country artist Johnny Cash came to Columbia Records in 1958 to record "The Fabulous Johnny Cash," the first in a long series of chart-topping iconic releases for the label. In this candid in-the-studio portrait of a man in black pompadour, Johnny Cash is deep in reflection, pondering the fine points of a playback, ruminating the next move in a career that would take him deep into the American cultural psyche.

—————————————————————————————————————————

Johnny Cash TNT Special, Live

I hear the train a comin'; it's rollin' 'round the bend,
And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when.
I'm stuck at Folsom Prison and time keeps draggin' on.
But that train keeps rollin' on down to San Antone.

When I was just a baby, my mama told me, "Son,
Always be a good boy; don't ever play with guns."
But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
When I hear that whistle blowin' I hang my head and cry.

I bet there's rich folk eatin' in a fancy dining car.
They're prob'ly drinkin' coffee and smokin' big cigars,
But I know I had it comin', I know I can't be free,
But those people keep a movin', and that's what tortures me.

Well, if they freed me from this prison, if that railroad train was mine,
I bet I'd move on over a little farther down the line,
Far from Folsom Prison, that's where I want to stay,
And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away

"The speech comes from the liner notes of the Folsom Prison Album. "

"I think what Tim Robbins and Johnny are really saying here is that prisons are really only made for the poorest of American's who never had a chance after coming out of the chute(vagina. They aren't made for people of privelege who commit heinous crimes like outing a covered CIA operative, or fabricating evidence to get America involved in an illegal war. "   OaktownUSA

 




RockinBlueVoodoo
(Deep in the Blues)
Posted: Aug 24, 2010 - 11:51 

A little known fact about one of Cash's biggest hits is that he plagiarized most of it from a song that was released two years earlier called CRESCENT CITY BLUES by Gordon Jenkins. He "borrowed" the melody and most of the lyrics and actually paid a considerable settlement to Jenkins.

Crescent City Blues
Gordon Jenkins, 1954


I hear the train a-comin, it's rolling 'round the bend
And I ain't been kissed, lord since I don't know when

The boys in Crescent City don't seem to know I'm here
That lonesome whistle seems to tell me, Sue, disappear
Folsom Prison Blues
Johnny Cash, 1956


I hear the train a comin´, it´s rolling round the bend
And I ain´t seen the sunshine since I don´t know when,

I´m stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin´ on
But that train keeps a rollin´ on down to San Antone

When I was just a baby my mama told me, Sue,
When you're grown up I want that you should go and see and do
But I'm stuck in Crescent City just watching life mosey by

When I hear that whistle blowin', I hang my head and cry
When I was just a baby my mama told me, son,
Always be a good boy, don´t ever play with guns.

But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die

When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry

I see the rich folks eatin' in that fancy dining car
They're probably having pheasant breast and eastern caviar
Now I ain't crying envy and I ain't crying me
It's just that they get to see things that I've never seen
I bet there´s rich folks eating in a fancy dining car
They´re probably drinkin´ coffee and smoking big cigars
Well I know I had it coming, I know I can´t be free
But those people keep a movin´ and that´s what tortures me

If I owned that lonesome whistle, if that railroad train was mine
I bet I'd find a man a little farther down the line
Far from Crescent City is where I'd like to stay

And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away
Well if they´d free me from this prison, if that railroad train was mine
I bet I´d move it on a little further down the line
Far from Folsom prison, that's where I want to stay

And I´d let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away


You can hear a comparison here
 http://tinyurl.com/25k4zln

calypsus_1
Posted: Oct 19, 2009 - 21:18 

Daveinbawlmer
(Bawlmer, Merlin. Hon.)
Posted: Jul 19, 2007 - 21:47 


Badassed to the Core.
Euphemism
(Jax, FL)
Posted: Jul 19, 2007 - 21:47 

http://blag.xkcd.com/2007/01/05/johnny-cash-will-not-leave-me-alone/

and...


funniously
(Canada)
Posted: Jul 19, 2007 - 21:46 

toe tapping, head shaking genius work.
Wizzuvvoz
(middle of the road in the groin of America)
Posted: Jun 18, 2007 - 11:51 

Yep. Top Cash IMO.
TJOpootertoot
(Toronto)
Posted: Jun 18, 2007 - 11:50 

Antigone wrote:
Springsteen -- Clash -- Johnny --

I'm in Paradise!!


Yeah - this run is probably enough to power me through to the end of the day!

Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
The Clash - I Fought The Law
Bruce Springsteen - Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
David Bowie - Sound and Vision
cutterjudd
(smackdabinthemiddle)
Posted: Jun 18, 2007 - 11:50 

These versions seem so refreshing to me, may have to go buy this one.
papaman
(Downstate New Mexico)
Posted: Jun 18, 2007 - 11:50 

I think Johnny was so much more than country music. He had the aura of 'alternative' for as long as I can remember.
Antigone
(A house, in a valley, Virginia)
Posted: Jun 18, 2007 - 11:50 

Springsteen -- Clash -- Johnny --

I'm in Paradise!!
cc_rider
(Austin Texas. Y'all.)
Posted: Jun 18, 2007 - 11:50 

He did so many versions of this, I'm not sure anyone's heard the same one twice! I really like the 'Live at San Quentin' version too.

God Bless J.R. Cash.

c.
Imkirok
(Minneapolis, MN)
Posted: Jun 18, 2007 - 11:50 

dionysius wrote:
"I shot a man in Reno/Just to watch him die"


I heard an interview with Johnny. He was trying to think of the most awful, inhuman thing someone could do when he wrote that line.

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