i went out there / in search of experience
to taste and to touch
and to feel as much
as a man can
before he repents
Got back from seeing Walk the Line a little while ago. It makes me wish I was more familiar with Cash’s music. I have “Ring of Fire” on my computer, along with “The Wanderer,” which he sung for U2 on their Zooropa album, but that’s all.
The movie was okay. A lot of times it just seemed like a retread of a standard music star’s career, complete with the violent outbursts, strained relationships, drug use and soul-searching. I wished they had focused more on what made Cash’s music so unique and the man so iconic in the first place. That would have made for a more compelling film than one that just chronicled, in linear fashion, his rise to fame. Although I should say, to be fair, it did approach a look into his individuality with a few scenes’ focus on the way his music spoke to people where they were and his ability to imbue his music with a sense that he had lived what he sang.
In spite of those shortcomings, though, I enjoyed the film if only for the glimpse it is into a time when even brooding music stars on the fast track to fame had an underlying sense of decency. I could see it in the way he approached the owner of the recording studio, the way he talked to June Carter in a diner for the first time. It gave me the sense that no matter the larger swings of temperament Cash underwent, there was still a foundation of right and wrong, a way folks treated one another ingrained in him that served as a plumbline for his eventual redemption. It seems almost like a frame of mind from a bygone time in this postmodern moral climate. I enjoyed that aspect of the film very much.
Cocaine Blues = the best song ever. It is a must download. Also his entire live at Folsom and live at San Quentin sets. Also on American IV is one of his better originals (and a super-dark Gospel song) “When the Man Comes Around.”
I don’t know if I agree with your “standard music star’s career, complete with the violent outbursts, strained relationships, drug use and soul-searching.” comment…I felt like the movie was more a tribute to June Carter’s presence and importance in his life and career and how she showed love to someone who was beyond unworthy. It was almost spiritual.
As for songs, my personal favorite was from his most recent album and was a remake of Hurt by Nine Inch Nails. The video is the kicker for me. Also, Boy named Sue is a fun song.
I’ll check those out. Thanks for the suggestions :)
You have to admit, though, that there were an awful lot of the standard rock star clichés in terms of dealing with success, strained father-son relationship, etc… I guess those are pretty universal but the man was unique, an icon, and I would have liked to see more of what made him approach music the way he did, without boundaries. That’s not to take anything away from June Carter’s role in the whole thing. That she could have been so devoted to him through all that just blew me away. And the scene where her parents scare off Cash’s pill-pusher during his recovery was hilarious in spite of itself :)
Blast on the continued missings out of the group activities while at home!!
Your review has inspired me to wait for it to come out on DVD… I’d very much like to see it, but it sounds like something I could wait and see (and most likely with my dad).
Good idea. It’s worth seeing, but not necessarily in the theater unless you’re a stickler for the “concert experience” when watching a music biopic. Is your dad a fan?
Big fan… A fan of most things “country” but in particular, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams (and Jr.), and Willie Nelson. We’re from Tennessee… But I must say, the stereotype fits him much better than me! : )