Music Notes

I Walk the Line

My tenth track is an old favorite from the late Johnny Cash. Originally released in 1956 I Walk the Line has been recorded several times, and a remastered version direct from the vintage Sun Studios label is available on YouTube, along with several live performance videos and movie cuts.

This is one of the only Johnny Cash songs I enjoy. I generally find him to be a dreary lyricist, who wrote and sang dusty Americana style ballads about gritty subjects I'd rather not think of. His voice is a distinctive deeper one, which I do admire.

The first time I ever heard I Walk the Line was kind of funny. Does anyone remember the days when Walmart would have a "jukebox" somewhere around the candle section? It was a display of CDs with "atmospheric" music, and there would be a soundbox with buttons you push to hear samples of each CD. They took those out a long time ago.

One day when I was a kid, Mom and I were looking at the selection of music. She pushed one button, and the soulful words of I Walk the Line came out. I found the pretty green cover of an Irish CD more interesting, and pushed that button, expecting to hear a Celtic instrumental. Instead, I Walk the Line was interrupted by a beer flavored bar doggerel belting out, much to Mom's dismay.

Afterwards, she fetched I Walk the Line on the computer, and it became an instant classic in my book, with simple words sung in a comprehensible way. It was one of the only songs I memorized and wrote down the lyrics to, in the same notebook where I kept all my favorite poetry I'd gathered over the years.

When Mom and I read about Johnny Cash's personal life, she said it was bad for him to have divorced his first wife (who he wrote the song for) to marry June Carter. I wasn't sure if I should pass judgment on him, because he seemed to be very happy with his second wife and stayed with her for the rest of his life. I asked myself if maybe sometimes a person could marry the "wrong" spouse and then find the one they were "meant" to have, and would it be such a bad thing to let the first one go if they felt they were better suited for the second one? But a person might do that over and over again, and be mistaken every time, or find someone else they feel is "just right…" Hold on while I overthink this…

At any rate, I Walk the Line is a song no one can argue with. While reading the Wikipedia page   on it, I learned about the "chicka chicka boom boom" phenomenon. I'd never given any thought to the goofy phrase; indeed, I couldn't have told you where I heard it before (a brand of popcorn, maybe?)

I remember when we watched a live TV performance from the 50's, the backing bass note was carried by a double bass (a giant standing violin) alongside Johnny. I did not know about the paper folded into his guitar to produce the other sound, which I now recognize as the onomatopoeic equivalent of that phrase. Becoming aware of key shifts and why he hums through the song makes me listen to I Walk the Line more carefully, even though I know nothing substantial about music theory.

This is a classic song I'm happy to have on my playlist.

Words: 604.