Folsom Prison Blues

Man shoots some dude
For no reason. Now he whines
Because he's in jail.

"Folsom Prison Blues" is what happens when your train song meets your prison song. In this case, Johnny Cash put them together while he was stationed in West Germany at the Landsberg air force base. It's a famous tale: guy is stuck in prison, sentenced for shooting a man in Reno "just to watch him die." His mother told him when he was young not to play around with guns, and it turns out she was right. Meanwhile, people on the train are rich and enjoying the good things in life. If our hero got out of prison, he would buy the train and move it down the line from prison. Who wouldn't?

Bob Dylan recorded this song during the Basement Tapes sessions of 1967. It's a rough take, as you would expect.

Big River

I followed my girl

Way down the Mississippi,

Crying all the way.

Where would we be, not to speak of Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell and Johnny Cash without rivers to skate away on? This Johnny Cash song made an appearance during the Basement Tapes sessions in 1967, and it's pretty simple:

- Guy meets a woman near the headwaters of the Mississippi River. He follows her south to the Quad Cities.

- She's not there. He follows her down the river to St. Louis.

- And to Memphis.

- And to Baton Rouge. And New Orleans... and so on...

And of course, the cycle of life being what it is, his inability to find her leads him to cry copious tears which of course keep the Mississippi full of water, allowing women like her to continue to elude guys like him.

Now I taught the weeping willow how to cry, And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky. And the tears that I cried for that woman are gonna flood you Big River. Then I'm gonna sit right here until I die. I met her accidentally in St. Paul (Minnesota). And it tore me up every time I heard her drawl, Southern drawl. Then I heard my dream was back Downstream cavortin' in Davenport, And I followed you, Big River, when you called. Then you took me to St. Louis later on (down the river). A freighter said she's been here but she's gone, boy, she's gone. I found her trail in Memphis, but she just walked up the block. She raised a few eyebrows and then she went on down alone. Now, won't you batter down by Baton Rouge, River Queen, roll it on. Take that woman on down to New Orleans, New Orleans. Go on, I've had enough; dump my blues down in the gulf. She loves you, Big River, more than me. Now I taught the weeping willow how to cry, cry, cry And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky. And the tears that I cried for that woman are gonna flood you Big River. Then I'm gonna sit right here until I die.

Here are Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan doing the song together...

Belshazzar

Babylon's king paid

The price for screwing the Jews.

Writing's on the wall.

It seems like there are multiple versions of the story of Babylonian king Belshazzar, or Balthazar, as we might call him today. In the version that Johnny Cash recorded and Bob Dylan and The Band covered in Saugerties in 1967, we hear the versions from the Bible, the Talmud and the Midrash. Belshazzar had a big feast, and being short on glassware, they used the golden cups and other vessels from the Jewish temple. While Belshazzar probably did plenty of things to offend God, this seems to have presented an occasion for the big man to show up at the party. At this point, a hand writes on the wall, "Mene mene tekel upharsin." Daniel, as in the fellow from the Old Testament, is brought in to explain what this could mean, as Belshazzar at this point feels the cold breath of eternity on his neck. Johnny explains:

Well the Bible tells about a man Who ruled Babylon and all it's land Around the city he built a wall And declared that Babylon would never fall He had concubines and wives He called his Babylon "Paradise" Upon his throne he drank and ate But for Belshazzar it was getting late For he was weighed in the balance and found wanting His kingdom was divided, couldn't stand He was weighed in the balance and found wanting His houses were built upon the sand Well the people feast and drank their wine And praised the false gods of his time All holy things were scorned and mocked Suddenly all their mocking stopped On the wall there appeared a hand Nothing else, there was no man In blood the hand began to write And Belshazzar couldn't hide his fright For he was weighed in the balance and found wanting His kingdom was divided, couldn't stand He was weighed in the balance and found wanting His houses were built upon the sand Well no one around could understand What was written by the mystic hand Belshazzar tried but couldn't find A man who could give him piece of mind Daniel the prophet, a man of God, He saw the writing on the wall in blood Belshazzar asked him what it said And Daniel turned to the wall and read "My friend, you're weighed in the balance and found wanting Your kingdom is divided, it can't stand You are weighed in the balance and found wanting Your houses are built upon the sand"

Big River

When your girl departs
Down the big Mississippi.
You have to follow!

Belshazzar

Belshazzar was king
of Babylon, but he failed.
God found him wanting.

Ballad of Ira Hayes

Indian Marine
Raises Iwo Jima flag,
Goes home, drinks and dies.

I Still Miss Someone

He still misses you,
But he's not sure you're sorry
For tossing him out.

The Ballad of Ira Hayes

Pima Indian
Raises Iwo Jima flag,
Goes home, drinks and dies.

I Guess Things Happen That Way

Forgetting this girl
Ain't easy. Remembering
Ain't cool. There you are.

I Walk the Line

Being a lover
Don't just mean smoochin'. It means
Walking what you talk.