Aval Handcarving

Johnny Cash says he usually writes maybe half of a song at one sitting, then goes back to it a second and third time to finish it. “If the song is there it usually doesn’t take me very long to write it,” he concludes. “When I start to write, I write enough so that I’ve secured the idea and don’t forget it. Usually the first lyrics I come up with are always the best and I make sure they are down on paper because I start thinking about other lines and I forget them. I make it a point that, no matter how inconvenient it might be, even if I’m in bed, I get up and get a pen and paper and write it down so I don’t lose it.”

“Well, ‘I Walk the Line’ was a love song, and it had three chords, ‘Ring of Fire’ also had three chords and ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ was an up-tempo rockabilly prison song. I don’t know, there is no set formula, except for the fact that over the years, I have a theme that I remember to remind myself –KISS – keep it simple stupid.”

Anther thing Cash tries to remember is that “the human being has a very delicate sense of like and dislike and listeners have pretty well heard everything. I come on trying not to offend or grate anyone the wrong way.”

Interview by
by Vernell Hackett, American Songwriter
Photo: Daily Herald