On the sidebar here to your left, is a new feature, where I link to a download of a song that I think - no, I know - that you will like. I will change it on a whim, so if you want it, grab it. Of course, if you like it, buy the album.
I'd also appreciate hearing your thoughts on the selections that you decide to download. Did you like it? Did you not like it?
This first song is "25 Minutes To Go", by Johnny Cash, which is on his Essential Johnny Cash 1955-1983 compilation, but is also on a number of other Cash albums. It was written by Shel Silverstein, one of my favourite poets.
It's a song sung by a guy who, minute by minute, recounts his final 25 minutes of life, before he gets hanged. I've never heard any other versions of this song, but I love the way Cash sings it. At the beginning of the song, he's rather cocky, a tough guy who kinda scoffs at the whole concept. That he is going to die hasn't quite set in yet. But when the preacher shows up, with only 13 minutes to go, the finality of the situation really takes hold, and we begin to hear some cracks in the voice of that tough guy. Listen to the panic, regret and fear in his voice when there's "just 4 more minutes to go". Fantastic stuff, and perfectly illustrates to me what makes Johnny Cash so great.
I've read this song described as "jokey satire", but I don't agree (perhaps it is with other people's renditions?) There may be humourous elements in the lyrics, and the upbeat tempo may bely the emotions that Cash expresses. But I don't think Cash is joking.
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