[quote=squat300][quote=ucodegen][quote=squat300]Ever hear the Johnny cash anti gun song in which a mother teaches her child not to play with guns but then he shoots a man in Reno just to watch him die?
Folsom prison blues. I wonder if the guy he shot was armed?[/quote]Probably not, otherwise there might have been a line in the song mentioning that the guy tried to draw his gun in defense but was too slow…
BTW: Folsom Prison Blues is not an anti-gun song. It is a song about taking responsibility for ones actions.
Cash recounted how he came up with the line “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die”: “I sat with my pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have for killing another person, and that’s what came to mind.”
The more complete quote for that song is:
When I was just a baby,
My Mama told me, “Son,
Always be a good boy,
Don’t ever play with guns,”
But I shot a man in Reno,
Just to watch him die,
When I hear that whistle blowin’,
I hang my head and cry.
[/quote]
id just been listening to the song in my car, so the lyrics were pretty fresh. i ehard it as a song about a kid who knew guns were bad news but who did an impetuous act he might nototherwise have done simply because he had the opportunity and basically killed himself and all his dreams at the same time.
i dont hear anything about eprsonal responsibility int he song, like he turned himself in or anything. it sounds like the gun was the cause of his misery the way i read the lyrics. the way his mama told him not to play with guns, but he went to Reno, a sort of risky town, and was i figure probably drinking and gambling,a dn the next thing you know, he killed a man, where if it had been other circumstances, might merely have been arelatively friendly fistfight.[/quote]
IMO, that song is about the loss of freedom because of an impetuous act, likely committed by a psychopath/sociopath. He is lamenting the fact that the lives of people on the outside are going on normally while he sits in prison. The sound of the train reminds him that life goes on outside the prison walls, and that, if not for that one moment in time, he would be free as well.
What I gather from the lyrics is that he is not sorry for his actions, but for his loss of freedom — stereotypical thought process of those who suffer from psychopathic tendencies.
Some people torture or kill animals or people just to see what happens; this is a sign of mental illness, and has nothing to do with guns, IMO.
——
The lyrics:
Folsom Prison Blues Lyrics
Artist: Johnny Cash (Buy Johnny Cash CDs)
I hear the train a comin’
It’s rollin’ ’round the bend,
And I ain’t seen the sunshine,
Since, I don’t know when,
I’m stuck in Folsom Prison,
And time keeps draggin’ on,
But that train keeps a-rollin’,
On down to San Antone.
When I was just a baby,
My Mama told me, “Son,
Always be a good boy,
Don’t ever play with guns,”
But I shot a man in Reno,
Just to watch him die,
When I hear that whistle blowin’,
I hang my head and cry.
I bet there’s rich folks eatin’,
In a fancy dining car,
They’re probably drinkin’ coffee,
And smokin’ big cigars,
But I know I had it comin’,
I know I can’t be free,
But those people keep a-movin’,
And that’s what tortures me.
Well, if they freed me from this prison,
If that railroad train was mine,
I bet I’d move out over a little,
Farther down the line,
Far from Folsom Prison,
That’s where I want to stay,
And I’d let that lonesome whistle,
Blow my Blues away.
