Johnny Cash on how music became his religion: “I have a calling, it’s called to perform and sing”
The late Johnny Cash is arguably the most authentic musician of all time. His unfettered spirit continues to permeate culture some 19 years since his passing, a testament to how much of an iconoclast and a trailblazer he really was.
One of the heroes of rebel country, Cash’s form of traditional American music was totally different to anything that had come before, with ‘The Man in Black’ emerging as the walking, talking antithesis to the popular rhinestone-donning acts that were popular in the post-war era. Bursting onto the scene in the 1950s with his gravelly baritone voice, incredible songwriting and genuine attitude, Cash was the rock ‘n’ roll spirit embodied, and all his fans knew it.
Cash represented the future of country, blending it with the soul of the gospel music he was raised on. His music was more cerebral and bleak than anything available at the time, and this artistic weight put Cash on a pedestal alongside other pioneers such as Little Richard and Chuck Berry. His music has real personality, which made the singer and his creations so universally lauded. Listening to his music is akin to conversing with the man himself, bridging the gap many artists fail to do.
Cash’s personality also endeared him to legions outside of his music, with his humble and sharp disposition invariably espousing cool. Far more complex than artists of his stature tend to be, this created a fascinating mythos around his life and times that was crystallised with the release of the acclaimed biopic Walk the Line in 2005.
Reflecting how deeply Cash thought about his position in the world was the interview he gave with Barney Hoskyns in 1996, a moment in which he looked back on his career. Throughout the conversation, Cash espoused the humility that made him such a champion of the people, and at one point, he discussed how music became like a religion for him, reflecting the authenticity of his work.
Asked whether he thought he could ever have been a preacher or if he attempted to, Cash responded: “No. I think in my world of religion, you’re called to preach or you don’t preach. You know? Called by God to preach. I never been ordained by God to preach the gospel. I have a calling, it’s called to perform and sing.”
He continued, revealing his lifelong love of gospel music and how it saved him from the bleak socio-economics of his childhood: “I think gospel song is a ministry in a way, you know. Gospel music. Gospel music is so ingrained into my bones, you know. I can’t do a concert without singing a gospel song, it’s what I was raised on. It was the thing that inspired me as a child growing up on a cotton farm, where work was drudgery and it was so hard that when I was in the field I sang all the time. Usually gospel songs because they lifted me up above that black dirt.”
