Johnny Cash. The Man In Black.

¿Por qué Johnny Cash vestía siempre de negro ?  Escucha la canción subtitulada para averiguarlo. En la breve biografía  a continuación también aprenderás más sobre este músico considerado por muchos  como uno de los artistas más grandes de todos los tiempos.

J. R. Cash was born in 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas. At the age of 24, he released (sacó a la venta)  a debut album entitled Folsom Prison Blues on Sun Records, the renowned Memphis-based record label which put out ( publicó, sacó  ) the first albums of legends like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis. The record made the country Top 5 and “I Walk the Line” became No. 1 on the country charts ( lista de éxitos). Cash’s singles became instant hits and he embarked on a tour around the US with his band Tennessee Three. By 1957, he was working more than 200 dates ( actuaciones)  a year. Cash continued producing successful records throughout (a lo largo de )  the 1950s and into the 1960s, but his personal life was heading an opposing direction : marital problems and an addiction to narcotics as a result of his gruelling ( extenuante) tour schedule clouded ( ensombreció)  what otherwise was a brilliant career.In 1968, after overcoming (superando)  his addiction, his musical career resurged with the help of singing partner and second wife June Carter. From 1969 to 1971, Cash, known by the as The Man in Black—he used to dress all in black—starred his own television show The Johnny Cash Show on the ABC Network, which included performances by Neil Young, LouisArmstrong and Kenny Rodgers, among others. Cash died in Nashville in2003 from complications from diabetes.

Did you know  ?

• Shortly before dying, Cash released the album The Man Comes Around featuring cover versions of Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Bonnie Prince Billie.

• The film I Walk the Line, starring Joachim Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon is based on Johnny Cash’s life.

Listen to the song Man in Black ( subtitles in Spanish) .

Lyrics

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black
Why you never see bright colors on my back
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town
I wear it for the prisoner who is long paid for his crime
But is there because he's a victim of the times

I wear the black for those who've never read
Or listened to the words that Jesus said
About the road to happiness through love and charity
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back
Up front there ought to be a Man In Black

I wear it for the sick and lonely old
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men

And I wear it for the thousands who have died
Believin' that the Lord was on their side
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died
Believin' that we all were on their side

Well, there's things that never will be right I know
And things need changin' everywhere you go
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right
You'll never see me wear a suit of white

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day
And tell the world that everything's okay
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back
Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black