The kids on TikTok think that just because he was a classic country singer, Johnny Cash was conservative??? My babies he covered a Nine Inch Nails song in his seventies.
Classic country singers (the majority of which came from poor roots) were always talking about how much The Man sucked because they were taking money from poor rural folk. You’re gonna tell me that’s conservative?? Get outta here.
And somehow on the opposite side of the scale with the same exact opinion the conservative kids say “I like the old country music, because there’s no politics to it” Woodie Guthrie’s got a “this machine kills fascists” sticker on his guitar? You think there’s no politics in 9 to 5 or Folsom Prison Blues?!
For anyone confused there was a sudden and dramatic shift in the country music genre. It used to be a genre fixated on the experiences of people. Lived or common experiences that resonated with the common people. It was music that you listened to and it thrummed in tune to your soul because you had lived it yourself. And a lot of that was about ordinary people getting ground up in the gears of society.
The hyper patriotism, beer, and trucks chimera we have now didn’t show up until after 9/11 and the world is lesser for it
Allow me to post the entire lyrics to the Johnny Cash song “Man in Black”, released in nineteen goddamn seventy-one and written about why he always wore black onstage:
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’ve 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 to 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
Believin’ that the Lord was on their side
I wear it for another hundred-thousand who have died
Believin’ 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 okay
But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back
'Til things are brighter, I’m the man in black
That right there is an anti-war, anti-bigot, anti-mass-incarceration, anti-war-on-drugs (Cash was an addict in various stages of recovery who was pissed as hell about how this country treats people with substance issues), eat-the-rich protest song. And it was arguably his signature song, his personal manifesto. Notice that even the Jesus reference, which today would be a signal that the song is about to drop some racist dogwhistles, segues immediately into a line about “the road to happiness through love and charity”. As in “Motherfucker, our shared god said love thy neighbor and care for the poor and the outsider, and we both know he didn’t fucking stutter.” He’s throwing shade at self-described Christians who use his religion as a cudgel to beat people with.
Johnny Cash wasn’t a conservative. I’m pretty sure if he were alive and in reasonably good health today, he’d knock Jason Aldean’s teeth out (or, failing that, write a song so devastatingly memetic about how much Aldean sucks that Aldean would never work in music again).
Johnny Cash was punk rock. He just happened to be punk rock in the body of a country singer.
while y’all are advocating for a ceasefire - and you should be - we need to keep centered that while a ceasefire is necessary to stop the current genocidal attacks and get the food, water and medical supplies that palestinians urgently need to them as soon as possible, we CANNOT stop there.
a ceasefire is an important step that MUST happen but we cannot let it be the end. the world cannot turn away. because as soon as we do, israel will restart their genocidal campaign. a ceasefire is step one, but we MUST end the occupation. palestine MUST be free. there is no other option.
so please do continue to advocate for ceasefire, to protest and call your representatives demanding that they support it, but if it happens, do not become complacent. we cannot stop until the occupation ends and palestine is free.
People have repeatedly asked me why I’m so scared of driving and quite frankly I think I hold a normal amount of fear towards driving. I think most people could stand to be a little more scared of driving tbh
The British should put a time limit on the Monarchy.
Not like declaring a republic tomorrow, but deciding on a date in the future that ends the British Monarchy.
And there’s a perfect date for it coming up!
October 14th, 2066.
A thousand years since the Battle of Hastings. A thousand years of this one specific bloodline ruling England.
Call time on the Monarchy after exactly one thousand years. Nice, and neat.
Even better: Charles isn’t living 44 years. He’ll be gone in about twenty. Now William? He’s what, 40? Yeah, he can live another 44 years. His great grandmother was over a hundred, his granny was 96, William can make it to 84 barring accident or assassination.
So on October 14th 2066, William the Last steps down a thousand years after William the First won the crown.
Nice, neat, and fair. William gets the crown he’s been waiting forty years for already, but ten-year-old George grows up without expectation of it.
Have a nice big abdication ceremony, even.
Plus, what an absolute baller move to announce your regnal name as William the Last.
imagine being the first amish bitch in your village to like get your body done like ass shots titties done and like beat face contoured… and then you walked into like the saloon or whatever amish people have and everyone dropped their irish fiddles and was shookedt? like everyone churning butter was just in shock and you walked across the artisanal wood floors in your wantmylook.com thigh high lace up heeled boots like your life depended on it… yes god
my mans jedediah looks away in humility but you KNOW he’s churnin butter that night……milkin a different cow…..
Why y'all doing this when you know the Amish are not here to defend themselves.
the Amish can definitely defend themselves they got rakes
this is the best post on this website why do we all keep trying
I saw an article about how Last Voyage of the Demeter was losing money in the theaters and I was like “really? all my friends are seeing it, that’s so weird”
then it occurred to me that I, producer of Re: Dracula, may be in a uniquely biased position here…..
“redracula producers georg” who produces 100 hours of re:dracula every year is an outlier and should not have been counted
ALT
