# "Folsom Prison Blues" question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347 "2012-02-19T20:09:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/1 "2012-02-19T20:09:00Z")
If the character in the song shot a man in Reno (just to watch him die), why is he in Folsom prison in California? Shouldn’t he be in prison in Nevada? (Maybe this belongs in GQ, but then maybe I’m just over-thinking a simple song lyric. :D) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/2 "2012-02-19T20:15:00Z")
He’s not in jail for the Nevada murder, but for one he committed in California. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/3 "2012-02-19T20:17:01Z")
Yeah, isn’t the implication that he went on a crime spree? ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/4 "2012-02-19T20:17:39Z")
That’s a bit of a mystery. Probably a young Johnny Cash was just careless. An in-song explanation could be that the prisoner shot the guy in California but right near Reno, so he just says “Reno” as short-hand for “the Reno area.” I’m not from there, so I have no idea if anyone would really do that. Another fanwank is that the prisoner is NOT doing time for that particular murder. Maybe that crime weighs heavily on his conscience, but he’s actually in a California prison for a completely unrelated offense. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/5 "2012-02-19T20:45:56Z")
> [@Clark\_K](#): > > … he’s actually in a California prison for a completely unrelated offense. Picking flowers. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/6 "2012-02-19T22:41:23Z")
“I shot a man in San Luis Obispo just to watch him die” doesn’t scan very well. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/7 "2012-02-19T22:48:35Z")
[Reno Junction, California](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reno_Junction,_California). So there kind of is a Reno in California but I’m still going to go with the murder in Reno is part of a larger crime spree and he is in jail for other crimes that were committed in California. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/8 "2012-02-19T23:11:58Z")
I’ve always been under the impression he was on a spree that began with the murder in Reno, and he rode the rails to California to continue the mayhem. The train is a big central point in his song. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/9 "2012-02-19T23:40:58Z")
He shot a man in Reno, but was in Sacramento himself. Johnny cash was a helluva shot. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/10 "2012-02-20T00:11:43Z")
Well, take a look at [California Penal Code sections 778a and 778b](http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=777-795). I read them as saying, first, that if part of a crime is committed in one state and the rest in California, California claims the right to try the defendant for the whole crime. Also, if someone inside California advises someone outside California to commit a crime, the inside-California guy is liable in California. So, I dunno, maybe he committed some elements of the crime in California. Don’t really know what – some planning, maybe bought some stuff? Usually those don’t matter. But typically when you try someone for murder, there’s also charges for kidnapping and lots of other random stuff. Maybe it was a murder for hire, and he was hired in California? But yes, when lawyers get drunk they have this conversation. A LOT. And I still don’t have a reasonable answer. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/11 "2012-02-20T00:14:39Z")
It couldn’t have been murder for hire. He explicitly gave the reason for the murder and it wasn’t for money. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/12 "2012-02-20T00:18:55Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It couldn’t have been murder for hire. He explicitly gave the reason for the murder and it wasn’t for money. Maybe he took the contract because he wanted to watch someone die. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/13 "2012-02-20T00:41:14Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > I’ve always been under the impression he was on a spree that began with the murder in Reno, and he rode the rails to California to continue the mayhem. The train is a big central point in his song. > ~VOW This has always been my thought, too. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/14 "2012-02-20T00:45:53Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > If the character in the song shot a man in Reno (just to watch him die), why is he in Folsom prison in California? Shouldn’t he be in prison in Nevada? > > (Maybe this belongs in GQ, but then maybe I’m just over-thinking a simple song lyric. :D) Offtopic, I know, but today I ran across this video of twin babies dancing to “Folsom Prison,” so I had to share [http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/baby-twins-dance-to-johnny-cash/1jrf3knc9?q=viral&rel=msn&from=en-us\_msnhp&form=MSNRLL&adlt=strict](http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/baby-twins-dance-to-johnny-cash/1jrf3knc9?q=viral&rel=msn&from=en-us_msnhp&form=MSNRLL&adlt=strict) For the more erudite, here’s the on-topic XKCD [xkcd: Reno Rhymes](http://xkcd.com/206/) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/15 "2012-02-20T00:45:58Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Picking flowers. And dropping them off the Talahachie Bridge? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/16 "2012-02-20T01:50:57Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > And dropping them off the Talahachie Bridge? Whoosh. From Cash’s [San Quentin concert](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIFQkbhTIGk) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folsom-prison-blues-question/613347/17 "2012-02-20T02:05:43Z")
Another vote for the popular interpretation: the shooting in Reno was the start of his life of crime, but that’s not the crime he’s in prison for.