What Are Johnny Cash's Major Accomplishments

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Johnny Cash had a very interesting, exciting life in and out of his musical career. He was a huge phenomenon and everyone was listening to him at this point in the late 1900s. People who didn’t listen to Johnny Cash were considered foolish because he was fantastic. He had hardships but they made him stronger in every aspect of life and it was very noticeable. The public was impressed with his music and the way he held himself which helped him with his musical achievements. Johnny Cash had a lasting impact on all different age groups which was a unique quality with postmodernism music artists and he also encouraged people to do kind deeds. Johnny's life started off worse than most so he wanted to turn it around so he was a point of interest …show more content…

Nothing could take away the fact that he was the ultimate icon. Whether the love of country music was strong or not, people could relate to him in someway. They could relate through relationship problems, family issues, addiction and monetary struggles. Claire Freeman states, “Every American can somehow identify themselves with Johnny Cash” (Freeman) which proves that he was the ultimate icon. He also included different genres into his music so there was always at least one song everyone liked. It was hard to describe Cash as just a country singer. According to Freeman, besides country, “his materials often embraced staples of other musical genres such as rock and roll, folk, blues and gospel” (Freeman). He did not only care about himself, he cared a lot about others too. For example, he would go into prisons to play music for the sad, lonely and suffering people that would not be able to hear it any other way. Freeman mentions, “He began to do concerts in prisons, in San Quentin” (Freeman) which could have been frowned upon but they were actually just great acts of kindness. This shows that Johnny had a huge impact on people’s lives all around the world no matter who they …show more content…

Two songs that were found most important are “I Walk The Line” and “Hurt” by Johnny Cash. It shows a lot about his life, and who he was as a person. Paul Friedlanders said, “Meaning cannot be determined through lyrical analysis alone, it is much deeper than that” (Friedlander). “I Walk The Line” was written in just twenty minutes so he would remember he had a wife and to be faithful while on tour with Elvis (Condart). There was another meaning behind the song. It was an oath to God. In the lyrics, it states, “I keep a close watch on this heart of mine...Because you’re mine, I walk the line” (Cash) This means that he is only thinking about her by putting aside drugs and his old wife and not even thinking about them because he is so infatuated with June Carter. “Hurt” by Johnny Cash was another classic that everyone loved but also made people cry. It was a remake of the song originally done by Nine Inch Nails. This song was symbolizing many things; his hard battles with drugs, his first heartbreaking divorce and a thank you to June Carter for being there to revive his career. The meaning behind these lyrics, “I hurt myself today to see if I still feel pain...Full of broken thoughts I cannot repair” (Cash) is that he is feeling hurt over something that has happened. People don’t know

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