Johnny Cash - Don't Go Near The Water. Lyrics and video

[ConsAreLiars]

Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBXf9pygAB0


From the fountains in the mountains
Comes the water running cool and clear and blue
And it comes down from the hills
And it goes down to the towns and passes through

When it gets down to the cities
Then the water turns into a dirty gray
It's poisoned and polluted
By the people as it goes along its way

Don't go near the water children
See the fish all dead upon the shore
Don't go near the water
'Cause the water isn't water anymore

I took my boy fishin' to my old favorite fishin' hole
I had caught many a fish out of that deep clear water
From the time I was a boy like him
After we'd fished a few minutes
He said, "Did you get a bite yet daddy?"
I said, "I think I got a nibble son"
"Me too", he said
Then he said, "Daddy if we catch a fish can we eat him"
I said, "Well there was a time son
This water's bad now and I might not be safe to eat the fish
m the fountains in the mountains
Comes the water running cool and clear and blue
And it comes down from the hills
And it goes down to the towns and passes through

When it gets down to the cities
Then the water turns into a dirty gray
It's poisoned and polluted
By the people as it goes along its way

Don't go near the water children
See the fish all dead upon the shore
Don't go near the water
'Cause the water isn't water anymore

I took my boy fishin' to my old favorite fishin' hole
I had caught many a fish out of that deep clear water
From the time I was a boy like him
After we'd fished a few minutes
He said, "Did you get a bite yet daddy?"
I said, "I think I got a nibble son"
"Me too", he said
Then he said, "Daddy if we catch a fish can we eat him"
I said, "Well there was a time son
This water's bad now and I might not be safe to eat the fish
But there was a time"

There was a time the air was clean
And you could see forever 'cross the plains
The wind was sweet as honey
And no one had ever heard of acid rain

We're torturin' the earth
And pourin' every kind of evil in the sea
We violated nature
And our children have to pay the penalty

Don't go near the water children
See the fish all dead upon the shore
Don't go near the water
'Cause the water isn't water anymore

Don't go near the water children
See the fish all dead upon the shore
Don't go near the water
'Cause the water isn't water anymore

[dbt]

1. Boom Chicka Boom On The Railroad To Doom.

Cash saw right through everything. This lyric works on so many levels besides Water now. If he was still alive, this world would kill him.

K & R for the True King Of Rock And Roll.

[Lochloosa]

2. +1 for the King

[ConsAreLiars]

4. Indeed, and exactly.

And a kick for the daylighters.

[ConsAreLiars]

9. "so many levels"

This is what made his work so powerful.

First, his unshakable class identification and loyalty, and then this, not just singing a narrative "ballad of" but one that tells truths at many levels.

A while back I posted a link to his "God's Gonna Cut You Down." As an atheist the god references were insignificant to me. The message was what had meaning and the music made it resonate very deeply in me. But some commenters were unable to get past that most superficial, words only, level. What I heard expressed was a deep plea/hope/belief/desire/demand/need that those who live by hurting others will somehow get "cut down."

See the various video interpretations at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=johnny+cash+god%27s+gonna+cut+you+down+music+video&aq=5 for the many levels in that song. And listen to any one and explore that experience.

[dbt]

10. Punks and Metal Heads cried when Cash died.

Anyone who listened to his work longer than five minutes could find something in it that resonated with them. People sensed the Truth when he sang. He recognized no boundaries and always spoke his mind. You find relatively little of that in music these days--and almost none of it in politics.

Upon his passing, Merle Kilgore said "He was The Truth."

[bklyncowgirl]

3. Love It!

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, ConsAreLiars.:thumbsup:

[ConsAreLiars]

6. This was played on Democracy Now! a few days back.

I had not heard it before then, probably not played much on commercial radio if ever.

[Uncle Joe]

7. I believe you're correct.

"I had not heard it before then, probably not played much on commercial radio if ever."

I know a lot of his music but this one was unfamiliar to me as well, although it doesn't surprise me one bit that he would sing it, Johnny Cash was an expansive human being.

[ConsAreLiars]

8. kick for the night shift (nt)

[B Calm]

11. As an old trucker, I miss the story teller Johnny Cash. Worried Man

is another great song!

[B Calm]

12. Lyrics to Worried Man by Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson

Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson (VH1 Storytellers)
Worried Man Lyrics:
You wrote a song that I did on a Reggae album that I did. And you had,
you got a house over in Jamaica, don'tcha?
Mmm-hmmh.
And you know a lot of those folks over there.
Yeah.
So I did this song called, "Worried Man," and did it on the Reggae
album. It's, it really sounds good with those guys playin' it.
Good, I haven't heard it. I'm anxious to hear it. Lemme, lemme tell
you how I wrote th... I come to write it. Ah, you were there and you probably
went through a little town called Falmouth, on the north, north shore, ah, between,
uh, Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. And, uh, I was walkin' along the streets of Falmouth
one day and this, this bum came up and he said, uh, he recognized me, he said, "Mr.
Cash, I'm a 'rr'd man. I'm very worr'd man." I thought, man, here's a new approach.
I've never had this one before (chuckles). I said, ah, "O.K., what are you worried
about?" He said, he said, "I got a wife and nine pikni <1> and no job, and that makes
me a worried man." So after I left him on the way back to, to our home I wrote this:



Worried man, worried man.
I'm a very worried man.
Hungry babies don't understand,
Papa is a worried man.

Papa is a worried man.


The place I used to draw my pay,
Slammed the door on me today.
Told me just to stay away,
And don't come back again.

Well, I went back home to break the news,
My woman saw that I had the blues.
She said the babies need new shoes.
Now, I'm a worried man.


Worried man, a worried man.
I'm a very worried man.
Hungry babies don't understand,
Papa is a worried man.
Papa is a worried man.



< Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/3Hfk >

There is no way that I can see,
That I can feed my family.
I don't own a money tree.
I don't own no land.


But I said, "Mamma, don't you cry,
I'll get a job before the day goes by.
I don't know where and that is why,
I'm a worried man.


Worried man, oh, worried man.
I'm a very worried man.
Hungry babies don't understand,
Papa is a worried man.
Papa is a worried man.

Papa is a worried man.




You know, I guess there, there really is a story behind every song. You know?
Mmm-hmm.
No matter what the song, there's a story behind it.
Mmm-hmm.
Even if you stole it.

Yeah, what do you wanna...
No, I'm not kiddin' ya. You know a song, I had a, a song, recorded a song by
Jack Clement. Written by Jack Clement called, uh, uh, "I Guess Things Happen That Way."
There's the tune to, When the Red, Red Robin, comes bob, bob, bobbin' along.
Yeah.

Did you know it was when you wrote...
No, no I didn't. I didn't realize it at the time. He told me later that's where
he got the (? inaudible ?).
Well, you know Kris wrote a song called, "Let's All Get Together And Steal Each
Other's Songs."

Want some water, Willie?
Sure. We got water, coffee and hot chocolate.

What's gonna happen to our image?

Lord.

As long as we keep wearin' black, I think we might be alright. I dunno.



Performed by: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson
Appears on: VH1 Storytellers-1998 (Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson)]

<1> Pikni is the Jamaican word for children or kids.]
Lyrics: Worried Man, Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson (VH1
Storytellers)