“Four slugs from a .44”: the Arizona graveyard that inspired a Johnny Cash song
If you’ve ever questioned the validity of the old adage “less is more”, then take a closer look at the career of Johnny Cash.
One of the most treasured musicians of all time, his songwriting hinged on the trust of simplicity. Timeless hits ‘I Walk the Line’, ‘Ring of Fire’ and ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ were built on three chords, while the lyrics followed a similarly rudimentary structure.
Cash wholeheartedly believed in the depth of simplicity and how it is a creative byproduct of instinct. Overthinking led to muddled intentions, which would inevitably get in the way of finishing a song, which Cash believed more than anything was the most important thing.
He explained, “If the song is there, it usually doesn’t take me very long to write it… When I start to write, I write enough so that I’ve secured the idea and don’t forget it, usually, the first lyrics I come up with are always the best, and I make sure they are down on paper because I start thinking about other lines, and I forget them.“
This rudimentary manner echoes in the songs themselves. You never sense for a second that there’s a doubtful musician behind ‘I Walk the Line’ even if the song is about doubt itself. As Cash continued, “I make it a point that, no matter how inconvenient it might be, even if I’m in bed, I get up and get a pen and paper and write it down so I don’t lose it.”
For him, that instinctual approach would usually follow the title, which would ultimately provide him with a lyrical guideline. “The title is always very important to me,” he explained. You certainly can’t argue with titles as blunt as ‘Folsom Prison Blues’. It sets the stall out before you’ve even his play.
For Cash, this was a vital way to create a benchmark. “I hear songs by somebody, and they’ll say, ‘I don’t have a title yet.’ That doesn’t make any sense to me,“ he said. ”All of my songs from the get-go have a title. That is the standard bearer that I lean on throughout the writing of the song, going back to the writing of the title. I don’t force that either, but when it’s appropriate, go back to the title.” This is also a motif that makes his songs memorable. You don’t finish ‘I Walk The Line’, and think, ‘What was that one called?’
Given Cash’s penchant for the instinctual, it came as no surprise that he jumped at the chance to perform ‘The Battle Of Boot Hill’, a 1959 country song originally written by Cowboy Jack Clement that chronicles the events of a real-life gunfight at the OK Corral.
In the introductory verse, “Here lies Les Moore / Four slugs from a .44 / No less, no more,” Cash sings words that can literally be found on one of the tombstones that still exist in the Arizona desert, still telling the story of that bloody battle. Alongside that are more tombstones, each tells the gory details of its victim’s death, ranging from John Heath, who was “lynched by the Bisbee mob,” and three-fingered Jack, who was “shot by Jeff Milton.”
It’s a song that is so visceral in its simplicity, telling the rich story of America’s wild west. And while Cash himself didn’t write the lyrics, it serves as almost a perfect song for his narrative style, devoid of lengthy wordplay and expansive metaphors, but instead tapping into the earnestness of his voice to simply tell the gritty story of an American community.
It’s a little piece of social history from Cash, and you don’t mess around with history. It has to be true.
