Sick of the Red Cross spot with Johnny Cash's hack job of "Bridge Over...

[PurityOfEssence]

Troubled Waters" yet? Well you will be. It's played twice every break on CBS evening news and will be shoved down your throats so relentlessly that you'll hate this otherwise fine song.

It's a shitty rendition by a very old man who's out of voice, and the bathos of this appeal is nauseating. The sheer mind-numbing repetition is enough to make one scream.

It's everywhere. It's endless. It's a grating chalkboard scratch from the first encounter, and the continual indulgence is the worst affront to the ears I've ever endured.

Testify.

[blossomstar]

1. Amen!

[rwheeler31]

2. Where is Simon,

Art where are you save our sanity.

[SW FL Dem]

3. Thank you

I just heard it and cringed. I thought it was Johnny Cash but hadn't heard that version, let alone his voice since I was a kid 30 years ago.

[SteppingRazor]

4. For your blasphemy of Johnny Cash alone...

I must disregard this post. For shame!

[readmoreoften]

5. Yeah, it sure was the last hurrah of an old man

who was about to die. How dare he record an album at his age? I mean, I don't think he knew that his song would be used in a commercial. That's usually how it goes.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

6. Thanks for sharing your thoughts...

...but not all music is performed by those with perfect pitch and a large back-up orchestra.

I seriously doubt that you've ever gone anywhere to hear real people sing about the things they deal with on a daily basis.

Some day when you're facing death like Johnny Cash, I hope you remember you recall with perfect clarity your rather "interesting" comments.

[catnhatnh]

7. You would impugn Johnny Cash...I issue a Fatwa, Infidel...

...he wrote more than most "stars" have sung...if you don't get it then here is my fatwa:may all the faithful stuff your shorts with a thousand fleas, May they herd away your camels (note:in America one camel= one Ford pick-up or 3/4 of one Chevy pick-up or 2.7 cars with combined EPA estimates over 22mpg)one per faithful...may they raid your cd cabinet destroying all the songs of the unfaithful save those of "Iggy Pop"...repent or suffer...

[crispini]

11. Amen.

Cash is God.

[mcctatas]

16. I'll see you're Fatwa and raise you one Crusade and a Jihad...

In memory of the Man In Black, may the OP suffer a 24 hour loop of John Asscroft singing that stupid friggin song about the soaring eagle!!!

[aquart]

8. I'm pretty sick of the Red Cross pretending they went in and helped

When they stayed out and let them die.

[getmeouttahere]

9. If there was ever a song that should NOT be re-recorded.....

it's "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
The ending crescendo still gives me goose-bumps, 35 years later.

[Catch22Dem]

10. Johnny Cash is an acquired taste

But the man is a brilliant vocalist. No, I'm not sick of it.

[FlaGranny]

12. If that is the worst

affront to your ears, I've gotta assume you haven't heard the same jarring stuff I've had the misfortune to hear.

[Pastiche423]

13. It isn't Cash's voice that is so bad

(even though it's the worst that I've ever heard him), it's the fucking repetition!

I thought maybe it was because that CBS had a piece about the lousy job the ARC has done and the ARC was trying to make up for the piece.

But DAMN! I had to put my tv on mute every time they went to commercial during the 30 news show.

[marbuc]

14. Hack job?

Johnny Cash's rendition is THE best version of the song. Especially if listened to all the way through. Dripping with sorrow, it is truly haunting. The whole album is just great, I'm a big JC fan, and I'm glad he left on a high note.

[longship]

15. You ought to hear Florence Foster Jenkins sing it.

I agree Cash was out of voice. But he never really was *in* voice, even in his youth. I do not idolize him, but I've always liked many of his songs. This rendition of "Bridge over Troubled Water" is not good. Cash is not only not in voice, he can't hold a tone, let alone a tune. Finally, he begins to get it together a little, but then the ad ends. Too bad. But I imagine those first few notes are like fingernails on a blackboard to many.

Want to hear horrible singing? Try the "Queen of the Night" aria from Mozart's "Magic Flute" sung by Florence Foster Jenkins.

[catnhatnh]

19. Longship,Pastiche,and Getouttahere...

....have you that MANY vehicles or SUCH room in your shorts??

[Pastiche423]

23. What the hell does that mean?

[WillyT]

17. Johnny Is My Own Personal Jesus !!!

So... BACK OFF!!!

:nuke:

[peacebaby3]

21. Amen, brother! n/t

[cynatnite]

18. I haven't heard him sing it...

I've always been a huge Cash fan. There've been a few songs in his later years I liked. 'Hurt' is the most moving and is almost tragic to hear him sing. The video is something else, too.

His early years are my favorites. He was a gifted singer and I miss his talent. Same thing with Waylon.

[peacebaby3]

20. Oh my!!! Are you joking? Cash is awesome! The Man in Black used his music

to speak for the down-trodden and those left behind or thought not worthy by our society.

He took on the censors many years ago who told him he couldn't say the word "stoned" on TV when he did a song written by Kris Kristofferson about his drug and alcohol addiction. He told them he wasn't going to change the lyrics because it changed the meaning of the song so he sang it just as written.

He went to Folsom and put on a show for the prisoners because he felt many of them were the people society had neglected.

The song you speak of is on the Amercan IV: The Man Comes Around CD and the entire CD is incredible. It also includes a song written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails called "Hurt" (Trent perfomed the song on the REACT hurricane relief concert) and a cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus".

His daughter, Rosanne, publicly came out against the war in Iraq back in March of 2003 when the Dixie Chicks were taking so much heat.

Sorry, I felt I had to defend JC. While you certainly have a right not to like him or his voice, but I think your ugly comments about him are unnecessary.



The Man in Black - by John R. Cash

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

[Elwood P Dowd]

22. Thank you for those lyrics

Johnny Cash was, as they say here in the South, walking the walk and talking the talk long before most members of DU were even born.

[peacebaby3]

24. Truly incredible, aren't they?!?! I'm a fellow Southerner, Elwood. n/t

[FlaGranny]

25. Character!

That's the word that describes Johnny's voice, just as the same word describes the man.

[htuttle]

26. That comes from the same album...

...that he did a cover of NIN's 'Hurt' on, and it's a fucking masterpiece. Even Trent Reznor liked it (and he doesn't like *anything*...).