# Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-american-v-a-hundred-highways/363281 "2006-07-05T23:51:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Blue-Sighted_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-american-v-a-hundred-highways/363281/1 "2006-07-05T23:51:14Z")
I picked this up today and it is incredible. His voice is a ruin, but the songs he chose showcase it the way it is, instead of trying to sound the way he used to. Death is an ever-present shadow over this album. He’s grieving the lost love of his life and he knows he’s dying and he’s **pissed** and he’s sure as hell not going gently into that good night. _God’s Gonna Cut You Down_ isn’t a tender spiritual; he’s dying and she’s dying and they’re dying and you are, too. He chokes up at the end of _Love’s Been Good to Me_, and, wow. Just wow. He only wrote 2 songs on the album: _Like the 309_ and _I Came To Believe_ , the rest are written by others, with the exception of the traditional, _God’s Gonna Cut You Down_ . I think this is a fitting finish to an incredible career. If you like Johnny Cash, you must buy this album. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-american-v-a-hundred-highways/363281/2 "2006-07-06T01:31:07Z")
I haven’t heard the whole album, just a song on radio (think it was NPR) last week. Mr. Cash’s voice sounded, as you say, ruined, but there was still passion in it. It made me cry: the whole force of loving his music, and hearing him right there in the studio til the very end, losing everything. I don’t know of any other musician who’s had the courage to expose his deepest self that way, through old age and impending death.(Later Thought; Warren Zevon did a powerful impending death album as well) But it makes such sense. Johnny Cash started out as a volatile voice, on the cutting edge of rock & roll, back when it all began with Sun records. He was a wild guy, and exemplified a new force in music, when it was a bold move. He survived his youth, became a country music icon, and certainly could have just settled down on his laurels, to let people remember him in his prime. But the last recordings Rick Rubin did are amazing; they show how great a singer Johnny Cash is: all barebones, without the Nashville hype. Brave, honest, passionate, blessed by a voice that even at it’s dimming point, has the power to move you to tears. Fitting, incredible, and Go Ahead On, John! ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-cash-american-v-a-hundred-highways/363281/3 "2006-07-06T06:17:02Z")
> [@Jahdra](#): > > I think this is a fitting finish to an incredible career. I think Rubin is finishing up VI right now. I believe there were 30 or so songs left and he created V and VI out of them. The news article that I read mentioned that Cash had a hard time exposing his much weakened voice since it had always been his core musical strength.