We watched the Jonny Cash bio Walk The Line the other night. What a brilliant film. I don’t know much about Cash but the movie was very engaging.
Bono wrote a song for Cash called The Wanderer and it’s on the Zooropa album, performed by Cash himself. You should search it out. It is a stunning song, one of my favourites. Here are the lyrics:
I went out walking through the streets paved with gold
Lifted some stones
Saw the skin and bones
Of a city without a soul
I went out walking under an atomic sky
Where the ground wont turn
And the rain it burns
Like the tears when I said goodbye
Yeah I went with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering
I went drifting through the capitals of tin
Where men cant walk
Or freely talk
And sons turn their fathers in
I stopped outside a church house
Where the citizens like to sit
They say they want the kingdom
But they dont want God in it
I went out riding
Down that ol eight lane
I passed by a thousand signs
Looking for my own name
I went with nothing
But the thought youd be there too
Looking for you
I went out there
In search of experience
To taste and to touch
And to feel as much
As a man can
Before he repents
I went out searching, lookin for one good man
A spirit who would not bend or break
Who would sit at his fathers right hand
I went out walking with a Bible and a gun
The word of God lay heavy on my heart
I was sure I was the one
Now jesus, dont you wait up
Jesus, Ill be home soon
Yeah I went out for the papers
Told her Id be back by noon
Yeah I left with nothing
But the thought youd be there too
Looking for you…
Yeah I left with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you…
I went wandering
It seems from the film that this song sums up Cash and his life. deep, dark but ultimately hopeful.
In the grocery store today,
Idly wandering down the aisles,
Searching for culinary inspiration,
I realized that the muzak sounded familiar
Listening harder I discovered it was actually Johnny Cash,
Listening harder still revealed that
The song was “One” by U2
It made me smile and think about you two.
And that made ME smile and think of you in your lovely hat!!!