‘I’ve Been Everywhere’: every place mentioned in Johnny Cash’s American odyssey
The road that Johnny Cash travelled was a long and winding one. His life and career were filled with many notable moments that are the stuff of legend. From pioneering rebel country to his romantic affairs and drug abuse, the ‘Man in Black’ lived to blur the lines between fact and fiction.
A wanderer on a strange path like many other influential musicians, he would visit many different locations in his time, bringing his sounds to the masses. From his show at Folsom Prison and the one at Sweden’s Österåker penitentiary to being invited to play at The White House on numerous occasions, Cash’s artistic work would take him to locations usually off the beaten track for laypeople.
Being a perennial rambler, it made sense that Cash would try his hand at one of the greatest geographical songs in existence, ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’. Famously, the energising song was written by Australian country singer Geoff Mack in 1959, touching on many locations in his native land, and was popularised by his countryman Lucky Starr with a hit version of it in 1962. That year, it was taken to new heights with a version by Canadian-American country legend Hank Snow. Since then, many artists have covered it, featuring different lyrics about their native lands.
Famously, it was Mack’s publisher who offered the song to Snow in 1962. Snow knew that the song had the potential to be a commercial success in North America, but only if the toponyms were adapted to suit the audience. Accordingly, at the behest of his publisher, Mack rewrote his track using a North American atlas the publisher provided him.
A classic country moment, the North American rendition opens with the iconic line, “I was totin’ my pack along the dusty Winnemucca road”. An expansive journey throughout the continent is then embarked upon, touching on 85 real locations, with six additional places visited in South America: Argentina, Barranquilla, Diamantina, Padilla, Salvador and Tocopilla. That means those who undertake it must reel off 91 names in the relatively short song.
So, after decades of globe-trotting, with a storied life behind him, when it came to recording Unchained, 1996’s second instalment in Cash’s American Recordings series – an album concentrating on covers – it made sense that the ‘Man in Black’ should undertake a rendition of ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’. Produced by Rick Rubin, the record was a tremendous success and earned Cash the Grammy for ‘Best Country Album’.
A brilliant cover from a career that produced many of them, the rocking ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’ became a highlight of Cash’s final chapter and a perfect sonic reflection of the odyssey that his life had been. A resonant palette evoking the many sweeping vistas of the United States, it showed that the Arkansas native had it until the very end.
Every location mentioned by Johnny Cash:
First verse
- Reno
- Chicago
- Fargo
- Minnesota
- Buffalo
- Toronto
- Winslow
- Sarasota
- Wichita
- Tulsa
- Ottawa
- Oklahoma
- Tampa
- Panama
- Mattawa
- La Paloma
- Bangor
- Baltimore
- Salvador
- Amarillo
- Tocopilla
- Barranquilla
- Padilla
Second verse
- Boston
- Charleston
- Dayton
- Louisiana
- Washington
- Houston
- Kingston
- Texarkana
- Monterey
- Ferriday
- Santa Fe
- Tallapoosa
- Glen Rock
- Black Rock
- Little Rock
- Oskaloosa
- Tennessee
- Hennessey
- Chicopee
- Spirit Lake
- Grand Lake
- Devil’s Lake
- Crater Lake
Third verse
- Louisville
- Nashville
- Knoxville
- Ombabika
- Schefferville
- Jacksonville
- Waterville
- Costa Rica
- Pittsfield
- Springfield
- Bakersfield
- Shreveport
- Hackensack
- Cadillac
- Fond du Lac
- Davenport
- Idaho
- Jellico
- Argentina
- Diamantina
- Pasadena
- Catalina
Fourth verse
- Pittsburgh
- Parkersburg
- Gravelbourg
- Colorado
- Ellensburg
- Rexburg
- Vicksburg
- Eldorado
- Larimore
- Atmore
- Haverstraw
- Chatanika
- Chaska
- Nebraska
- Alaska
- Opelika
- Baraboo
- Waterloo
- Kalamazoo
- Kansas City
- Sioux City
- Cedar City
- Dodge City.
Listen to Johnny Cash’s ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’ below.
