"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash"

I saw the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line" recently. It was okay, but I didn't think it lived up to the hype and raves it's been getting. My main problem is in the casting. I think both the leads are great actors, but I thought they were both wrong for the parts.

Joaquin Phoenix just seems too crazy, too wild-eyed, for even Johnny Cash, and Reese Witherspoon seems too "upper-crusty" to me to be June Carter Cash, whom I always envisioned as a pretty rough-hewn, tough woman.

It's certainly not a bad film by any stretch, but I just left feeling a bit let down. I loved Johnny Cash. Always have. There was just something about the man that always drew me to him growing up. And it's odd, because I really don't have many of his records at all, it was more about HIM, the man. I liked that he always wore black as a statement of standing up for the underdog and the downtrodden. Sort of reminds me of the Biblical stories of Jesus going to the whores, the tax collectors, the outcasts of society, much to the chagrin of the "holy" people. I'm always so moved by that type of thing for some reason.

But back to the film - they also took the typical Hollywood liberties that I guess make the story a bit more engaging, but always tend to annoy me. Por ejemplo, the scene where Cash and his band get signed to Sun Records isn't really true to reality. Cash is told by Sun Records icon Sam Phillips that he can't sell gospel music (which is what Cash was performing at the time) and that he didn't believe Cash when he sang those lyrics. He wanted to hear what was in his SOUL. In the movie, Cash then launches into this impassioned version of "Folsom Prison Blues" that gets more and more intense as it progresses, and of course they're signed on the spot.

Well, it made for a great movie moment, but in reality, the song they did was called "Hey, Porter," and it didn't really happen that way. The boys brought Sam their original song and were planning to make it a B-side to their gospel tune, but Sam wanted more originals (the part about not being able to sell gospel music was true). Anyway, they went back and wrote another song called "Cry, Cry, Cry" and went from there. "Folsom Prison Blues" wasn't released until later. But I guess they caught the essence of Cash's struggle there in the film.

Speaking of his struggle, I had to go back and rewatch his final video recently. I can't even put into words how powerful this video and song are to me. This will sound like a complete exaggeration, but it's not: it's probably the most single-handedly powerful 4 minutes of video I've ever witnessed. It's just beyond description, and it is so very, very brutal and real.

It's Cash's cover of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt." Now, Cash was a drug addict through much of his adult life, something he always battled with, and it really took its toll on him physically. He had been ill for the last few years of his life, but he still managed to put out incredible albums. But he hadn't really been seen much in public, so the image of him as the big, burly, black-haired titan of a man was still very much in my head before I saw this video for the first time.

And then, there he is in the video - old, grey everywhere, shaking, unable to keep his hands steady, looking so very, very weary and worn. And he sings the lines, "I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel" and "You can have it all, my empire of dirt," all while sitting around his mausoleum of a mansion, full of old memorabilia, old pictures of his youth, of his family, interspersed with quick edits of clips from his younger years when he was strong, powerful. But the hardest part for me to watch is when you see June Carter, his wife, in the background, looking at him with the saddest look I've ever seen...you can see how much she loves this man, and you can see how she looks at him in agreement when he sings the words, "What have I become?"

This brave, real image of Cash, just a year or so before his death, contrasts so sharply with your image of him, or at least MY image of him. I think it's the bravest thing he ever did, to be honest. Because you can see his pride still trying to fight through in that video, despite the shaking hands, despite the despondency that the song seems to project. It's just the most real and powerful thing I might have ever seen on video.

Sounds like a real uplifter, huh? :-)

Anyway, I highly suggest purchasing it if it's still being sold. It's on DVD and is just the one song, but it's so worth it.

Hope all is well, and more music to come...