Freddie Tibodeaux
May 23rd, 2006, 09:15:23 PM
http://panicked.org/sa/jcgangsta.jpg
Hello, I'm Johnny Cash!
I suppose by now its no secret that I am a huge, freaking huge, Johnny Cash fan. I have about a dozen of his albums on my iPod. Hell, I even have a Johnny Cash action figure on top of my computer. Having listened to a few hundred of the songs that he either wrote, covered, joined-in, or even inspired, I figured I should pass on my appreciation for the greatest warrior bard of the twentieth century, by heaping some sweet lyrics up in this thread.
Here's one of my favorite Cash songs - The Mercy Seat, which was a cover of a song written by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. It's a perfect song for the Man in Black to cover, because of Johnny's lifelong crusade to reform the prison system. In the song, a prisoner condemned to death by electrocution ponders his impending demise and the potential aftermath beyond. Interestingly, the term "mercy seat" is also the name of the lid that covers the jewish ark of the covenant, on top of which the throne of God is beset.
This song is done with Johnny, his acoustic, and a chillingly mournful piano accompaniment:
<center>The Mercy Seat
It all began when they come took me from my home
And put me on Death Row,
A crime for which I am totally innocent, you know.
I began to warm and chill
To objects and their fields,
A ragged cup, a twisted mop
The face of Jesus in my soup
Those sinister dinner deals
The meal trolley's wicked wheels
A hooked bone rising from my food
All things either good or ungood.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this weighing of the truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I'm not afraid to die.
I hear stories from the chamber
Christ was born into a manger
And like some ragged stranger
He died upon the cross
Might I say, it seems so fitting in its way
He was a carpenter by trade
Or at least that's what I'm told
My kill-hand tatooed E.V.I.L. across it's brother's fist
That filthy five! They did nothing to challenge or resist.
In Heaven His throne is made of gold
The ark of his Testament is stowed
A throne from which I'm told
All history does unfold.
It's made of wood and wire
And my body is on fire
And God is never far away.
Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved, my head is wired
And like a moth that tries
To enter the bright eye
I go shuffling out of life
Just to hide in death awhile
And anyway I never lied.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this weighing of the truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is burning
And I think my head is glowing
And in a way I'm hoping
To be done with all this twisting of the truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway there was no proof
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is glowing
And I think my head is smoking
And in a way I'm hoping
To be done with all these looks of disbelief.
A life for a life
And a truth for a truth
And I've got nothing left to lose
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is smoking
And I think my head is melting
And in a way that's helping
To be done with all this twisting of the truth
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
But I'm afraid I told a lie.</center>
Hello, I'm Johnny Cash!
I suppose by now its no secret that I am a huge, freaking huge, Johnny Cash fan. I have about a dozen of his albums on my iPod. Hell, I even have a Johnny Cash action figure on top of my computer. Having listened to a few hundred of the songs that he either wrote, covered, joined-in, or even inspired, I figured I should pass on my appreciation for the greatest warrior bard of the twentieth century, by heaping some sweet lyrics up in this thread.
Here's one of my favorite Cash songs - The Mercy Seat, which was a cover of a song written by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. It's a perfect song for the Man in Black to cover, because of Johnny's lifelong crusade to reform the prison system. In the song, a prisoner condemned to death by electrocution ponders his impending demise and the potential aftermath beyond. Interestingly, the term "mercy seat" is also the name of the lid that covers the jewish ark of the covenant, on top of which the throne of God is beset.
This song is done with Johnny, his acoustic, and a chillingly mournful piano accompaniment:
<center>The Mercy Seat
It all began when they come took me from my home
And put me on Death Row,
A crime for which I am totally innocent, you know.
I began to warm and chill
To objects and their fields,
A ragged cup, a twisted mop
The face of Jesus in my soup
Those sinister dinner deals
The meal trolley's wicked wheels
A hooked bone rising from my food
All things either good or ungood.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this weighing of the truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I'm not afraid to die.
I hear stories from the chamber
Christ was born into a manger
And like some ragged stranger
He died upon the cross
Might I say, it seems so fitting in its way
He was a carpenter by trade
Or at least that's what I'm told
My kill-hand tatooed E.V.I.L. across it's brother's fist
That filthy five! They did nothing to challenge or resist.
In Heaven His throne is made of gold
The ark of his Testament is stowed
A throne from which I'm told
All history does unfold.
It's made of wood and wire
And my body is on fire
And God is never far away.
Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved, my head is wired
And like a moth that tries
To enter the bright eye
I go shuffling out of life
Just to hide in death awhile
And anyway I never lied.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this weighing of the truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is burning
And I think my head is glowing
And in a way I'm hoping
To be done with all this twisting of the truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway there was no proof
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is glowing
And I think my head is smoking
And in a way I'm hoping
To be done with all these looks of disbelief.
A life for a life
And a truth for a truth
And I've got nothing left to lose
And I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is smoking
And I think my head is melting
And in a way that's helping
To be done with all this twisting of the truth
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
But I'm afraid I told a lie.</center>