The “extra special” Johnny Cash song Kurt Vile calls his favourite
As a soloist and former The War on Drugs member, Kurt Vile has become a staple in modern alternative scenes. He blends psych and indie influences with ease, carving out gorgeous guitar soundscapes with a warm, nostalgic quality. From his twangy guitars, vivid lyricism and drawled vocals, it’s easy to see how Vile also channels country sensibilities into his songwriting.
When it comes to country, there are few names more important than Johnny Cash. The ‘Man in Black’ won millions over with his deeply personal songwriting and charming persona, earning a permanent place not only in the history of the genre but in music as a whole. His influence can be felt throughout culture even now, including in Vile’s music.
While naming nine of his favourite songs for The Line of Best Fit, Vile demonstrated his penchant for country with picks by Waylon Jennings, Charley Pride, and an “extra special” number by Johnny Cash – ‘Guess Things Happen That Way’.
“I grew up on Johnny Cash through my Dad,” Vile reminisced, “He had the early Sun Records recordings, and that’s what he would play the most. My favourite song was ‘Guess Things Happen That Way’.”
Released in 1958, the track was written by Jack Clement. It features twanging guitars, vocalised instrumentation, and paradoxically optimistic piano. Over layers of vocalisations, Cash sings of love and loss almost with an accepting shrug. “Well, you asked me if I’ll forget my baby,” he sings, “I guess I will, someday. I don’t like it, but I guess things happen that way.”
Vile declared that there was “something extra pretty about it. It’s not just, ‘tick tack tick tack’, it’s got the backing vocals – ‘ba doop ba doo ba doop ba doo.’” It certainly is pretty instrumentally, despite the comparatively melancholic, grief-stricken lyrics.
The former War on Drugs guitarist went on to credit Clement, too, for his contribution to the track, enthusing, “There was something extra special about it and then sure enough Cowboy Jack Clement, he wrote that song… He was always hanging with Johnny Cash and stuff, but the fact he was there in the very beginning and wrote such a classic and got Johnny to do that, it’s pretty amazing.”
Still, to Vile, that track is characteristically Cash. Though Clement penned it, the ‘Man in Black’ honed a tendency to make songs his own throughout his career. Over 40 years on from the release of ‘Guess Things Happen That Way’, he delivered an unforgettable cover of ‘Hurt’ by Nine Inch Nails. His take on the track was so good that Trent Reznor once rescinded his ownership of it.
‘Guess Things Happen That Way’, too, seems to belong to Cash. As Vile reaffirms, “He didn’t write it, but he owns it.” Listen to ‘Guess Things Happen That Way’, the “extra special” Johnny Cash song Kurt Vile calls his favourite, below.
