Sinners Make the Best Saints

I can't handle country music. Seriously. It makes me nauseous on a good day, and borderline insane on a bad one. Yet for some reason I really like [some of] Johnny Cash['s music]. (Now that I think about it, I think the songs I like are the ones that are free of that oh-so-ungood 'twangy' country sound. Just the thought of it sends shivers up my spine.) I've been reading a biography on him the last little while, and he's got a pretty powerful story.

Now, I'll freely admit I'm one of those people who only started listening to him after he died, and am in no way claiming to be free of marketing manipulation. But in my defense, the first time I ever knowingly heard and liked a Cash song was on the way to a youth convention a few years ago, and someone was playing 'When the Man Comes Around' (based on the Book of Revelation) and then 'Hurt' (his cover of a NIN song, which I'm sure most of you have probably heard). They were so fantastic I made them put the songs on repeat and listen to them a few more times than I'm sure everyone in the van wanted to. After that, American IV: The Man Comes Around became the first (and only) 'country' CD I ever bought. As it turns out, there may have only been one or two other songs on it that I actually enjoyed--what can I say? Country really just isn't my thing.

But today I heard a new song (well, as new as a song can be when it's released after the artist dies --Tupac anyone?). It's pretty powerful, and the music video is actually really interesting. So go here to see Johnny Cash's God's Gonna Cut You Down.