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Johnny Cash: A Black Bloc Of One

by Punk Star Before His Time
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.
johnnycash.jpeg
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

----

SINGIN' IN VIETNAM TALKIN' BLUES
(Johnny Cash)

« © '71 House Of Cash »

One mornin' at breakfast I said to my wife
We've been everywhere once and some places twice
As I had another helpin' of country ham
She said we ain't never been to Vietnam
There's a bunch of our boys over there so we went to the Orient Saigon
Well we got a big welcome when we drove in
To the gates of a place that they call Longh Bin
We checked in and everything got kinda quiet
But a soldier boy said just wait till tonight
Things get noisy things start happenin' big bad fire crackers
Well that night we did about four shows for the boys
And they were livin' it up with a whole lotta noise
We did our last song for the night
And we crawled into bed for some peace and quiet
But things weren't peaceful and things weren't quiet things were scary
Well for a few minutes June never said one word
And I thought at first that she hadn't heard
Then a shell exploded not two miles away she sat up in bed and I heard her say
What was that I said that was a shell or a bomb she said I'm scared I said me too
Well all night long that noise kept on and the sound would chill you right to the bone
The bullets and the bombs and the motor shells shook our bed every time one fell
And it never let up it was gonna get worse before it got any better
Well when the sun came up the noise died down
We got a few minutes sleep and we were sleepin' sound
Then a soldier knocked on our door and said the last night they brought in seven dead
And fourteen wounded and would we come
Down to the base hospital and see the boys yeah
So we went to the hospital warded by day and ever night with the singin' away
Then the shells and the bombs till dawn again
And the helicopters brought in the wounded men
Night after night day after day comin' and a goin'
So we sadly sang for them our last song and reluctantly we said so long
We did our best to let 'em know that we care
For ever last one of them that's over there
Whether we belong over there or not somebody over here loves 'em and needs 'em
Well now that's about all that there is to tell about that little trip into livin' hell
And if I ever go back over there anymore
Hope there's none of our boys there for me to sing for
I hope that war's over with and they all come back home to stay in peace
http://maninblack.net/lyrics/SINGIN%20IN%20VIETNAM%20TALKIN%20BLUES.htm
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Sun, Sep 14, 2003 7:33PM
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Sun, Sep 14, 2003 9:37AM
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