# 'Jackson' by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash: which one is it about?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jackson-by-johnny-cash-and-june-carter-cash-which-one-is-it-about/190692>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 24, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jackson-by-johnny-cash-and-june-carter-cash-which-one-is-it-about/190692 "2003-07-24T18:51:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jackson-by-johnny-cash-and-june-carter-cash-which-one-is-it-about/190692/1 "2003-07-24T18:51:33Z")

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Is the song about Jackson, MS? Or Jackson, TN? Or some other Jackson? Or is it about a fictionalized place? Just wondering if anyone knows.

Google didn’t help – it did help, however, with the lyrics _pony keg_ (a small barrel) and _Jaypan fan_ (southern-accented ‘Japan fan’).

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**Author:** ![TigoleBitties](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@TigoleBitties](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TigoleBitties)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jackson-by-johnny-cash-and-june-carter-cash-which-one-is-it-about/190692/2 "2003-07-24T20:57:30Z")

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I always assumed it was Jackson MS. My dad told me it was a hellraiser town way back when and from what I hear…the place to raise some cain in Tenn was Memphis.

But then again, it could be just any fictionalized town. Going to town was hill folk saying about just breezing in to raise hell the main city sometimes. Jackson may just be whatever town is nearest to you.