Written by Carilu Martinez. 11 November 2014
Some people might recognize this man by the name of “The Man in Black” while others know him as simply “Johnny Cash.” Today, Cash is one of the most influential men not only in the country world but also in various different genres. Before his fame, Cash was just as ordinary as someone could possibly be. In 1954, Cash moved to Memphis, Tennessee where he sold appliances. He also enrolled in a radio announcer course. In the radio announcer course he met two of his good friends, whom he collaborated with and perform gospel music and other songs at local bars.
Cash was able to cast an audition for Sun Records. Sam Phillips the owner of Sun Records was not pleased with the song of choice that Cash had chosen to perform. Luckily, Philips allowed Cash to return and perform a different song of choice. Cash did not hesitate to take the second chance he was given. The following day he returned and performed “Cry! Cry! Cry!” It was mentioned that Cash wrote this song just overnight! This song was such a big success not only for himself but for Sun Records itself. Phillips was very pleased with the song Cash had performed that shortly after Cash began his tour with Elvis Presley.
In 1955, at only two minutes and twenty-nine seconds, “Cry! Cry! Cry!” was released and sold over 100,000 copies. The title itself “Cry! Cry! Cry!“ automatically gives the listeners the idea that the song will most likely be a sad/depressing song. Cash conveys a message about two people in a relationship and what could potentially happen once the relationship is over. The beginning of the song has an up-beat rhythm played by the guitar, double bass, and drums. It came to my attention when I first listen to his song that most “sad” songs do not begin with an up-beat rhythm. The rhythm in this song is more of “cheerful” rhythm. I began to think that maybe Cash has come to the conclusion of accepting the fact that there is a possibility of the relationship coming to an end. In most relationship a breakup is never something easy to take. It is difficult to accepting any type of breakup. As Cash begins to sing the song, I felt as if instead of singing the song, it was like he was having a casual conversation with somebody.
Cash begins his song with the up beat rhythm like mentioned earlier, followed by the first verse that says, “Everyone knows where you go when the song goes down . . . “ immediately the audience is able to sense that maybe cheating is involved. Which lead me to believe that there was trouble in paradise. When two people are in a relationship they tend to always want to have each other’s company. At night is when one is able to talk about how their day went and share other things that happened throughout the day. Later the song follows by mentioning, “ I wasted my time when I would try, try, try” because of the lyrics we are able to see how syllogistic is taking place. He is using repetition of words to get his point across. The chorus implies that someone is going to be hurt because it says, “You’re going to cry,cry,cry and you’ll cry alone” When Cash first sings the chorus, it is noticeable that the first cry cry cry is being sad in a calm tone of voice.
But as the song progresses he tend to emphasize more and more on it. In a relationship, people always want answers towards why they did the things they did. It really does not matter whether it is something good or bad but you have to have enough justification why you did it. Cash says, “ I lie awake at night to wait ‘til you come in, You stay a little while and then you’re gone again, Every question that I ask, I get a lie lie lie.” The audience is able to sense what he is feeling because of his style. He is very open about his feeling and the fact that even if he continues to try, his partner will continue to be a liar and a cheater. It is not easy accepting the fact that you are no longer with that person because of cheating. A lot of factors have to be taken into consideration when cheating is involved. One possibly being that they were no longer happy with the other person and simply did not know how to end the relationship.
Upon deciding what song to choose, I decided to choose this song simply because it was his first major hit and how controversial it can be by simply rhythm not going with the song. Cash wanted to pursue his career in the music industry and he did not give up simply because Philips did not approve of his first song choice. Cash went back to pursue his dream and it is a great inspirational thing to do. Cash was clueless at the idea that the song he wrote the night before was going to be the beginning of his career. Sometimes we are too scared to fight for what we want and if we allow that to get in our way, we wont get far in life.
| Time | Form | Listening Cues | Discussion |
| 0:00 | Intro | Instruments | Song begins with a guitar, double bass, drums playing all together creating an upbeat rhythm. |
| 0:10 | Verse 1 | “Everybody knows… “ | Sings with a very calm voice as if he is having a conver-sation with someone. At 0.47 seconds there is a change of tone in his voice. |
| 0:50 | Chorus | “You’re gonna cry, cry,cry…” | Emphasize on what is going to happen when someone is alone. |
| 1:05 | InstrumentalInterstude | Instruments | Instruments are bring played like at the beginning of the song. |
| 1:25 | Verse 2 | “I lie awake…” | There is another tone of voice. |
| 2:03 | Chorus | “You’re going to cry,cry,cry…” | As the song progresses, Cash emphasizes even more when he sings “cry,cry,cry” |
| 2:16 | InstrumentalInterstude | Instruments | Instruments solos |
Works Cited
“Johnny Cash.” Sun Record Company. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
“The Stories Behind 10 Johnny Cash Songs.” Mental Floss. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.