Johnny Cash

[fox69]

"The First Noel"

"The First Noel"



The first noel, the angels did say
Was to certain poor shepherds,
In fields as they lay

In fields where they
Lay keeping their sheep
On a cold winters night, that was so deep

Noel, noel
Noel, noel
Born is the king of israel

When they looked up, and saw a star
Shining in the east, beyond them far
And to the earth, it gave great light
And so it continued both day, and night

Noel, noel
Noel, noel
Born is the king of israel

Noel, noel
Noel, noel
Born is the king of israel

(noel, noel)

Noel, noel
Noel, noel
Born is the king of israel
Noel, noel
Noel, noel
Born is the king of israel
Noel, noel
Noel, noel
Born is the king of israel
Noel, noel
Noel, noel
Born is the king of israel

 

[fox69]

"The Flint Arrowhead"

"The Flint Arrowhead"



While traveling this land from border to border and from sea to sea
There have a few occasions to leave the beaten path and to find the place
And quiet that's good for thought and just walking through a trackless forest
Or exploring ruins of the earliest settlers or walking along a creekbed
Hoping to find a relic such as a tomahawk an axe
Or even an arrowhead left by a race of long since vanished Indians
There's a great thrill and it's a wonderful feeling to find a flint arrowhead

Over fields of new turned sod and in communion with my God I walked alone
In a furrow bed I found an arrowhead chiseled from stone
I don't know how long ago some redman drew his bow on its last fight
Or did he drop it here afraid white men were near to attack at night
I do know this one thing beyond all questioning it was made to kill
And proof of a master trade is in this arrowhead he made fashioned with skill
That I inherited this ground is denied by this stone I've found but when and by who
Come join me in my tracks then let's stop and look back to the vale and through
In love and peace we'll see the shadows and the trees and voices too
But quietly slowly tread this home of the forgotten dead whose bones are dust
I'm proud that their craftsmen's skill survives the ages still left in my trust

 

[fox69]

"The Fourth Man"

"The Fourth Man"


They wouldn't bend
They held on to the will of God so we are told
They wouldn't bow
They would not bow their knees to Idols made of gold
They wouldn't burn
They were protected by the Fourth Man in the fire
They wouldn't bend
They wouldn't bow, they wouldn't burn.

Now the prophet Daniel tells about
Three men who walked with God
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
Before the wicked king they stood
And the king commanded them bound and thrown
Into the fiery furnace that day
But the fire was so hot that the men were slain
That forced them on their way.

Now when the three were cast in and the king rose up
To witness this awful fate
He began to tremble at what he saw
In astonished tones he spake
Did we not cast three men bound
Into the midst of the fire
Well, Lo, I see four men unhurt
Unbound and walkin' down there;

There's Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
And the fiery coals they trod
But the form of the Fourth Man that I see
Is like the Son of God;

 

[fox69]

"The Frozen Four Hundred Pound Fair To Middlin' Cotton Picker"

"The Frozen Four Hundred Pound Fair To Middlin' Cotton Picker"



I left the field one evening my fingers so cold and sore
From fair to middlin' cotton 300 pounds or more
Jim McCann was still pickin' straddle in the row
The sun began to sinkin' and the wind began to blow

He was bound to get 400 a draggin' a twelve foot sack
I hollered out Jim come weight it but I only saw his back
So I went on home to supper and I gathered around my kin
I was thinkin' of Jim out there pickin' with winter settin' in

Next morning the air was freezin' the snow was nine feet deep
I jerked on my long red handles and I left my kids asleep
I got myself a shovel and went to where I seen Jim go
And commenced to a diggin' for him at the other end of his row

I found his body frozen and I took him in to thaw
I dragged in his sack and I weighed it and I added Jim's marks that I saw
The total was over 400 so he'd picked more than he'd bet
Of fair to middlin' cotton but Jim ain't thawed out yet

 

[fox69]

"The Gambler"
(originally by Kenny Rogers)

"The Gambler"
(originally by Kenny Rogers)



About twenty years ago
On a train bound for nowhere
I met up with The Gambler
We were both too tired to sleep
So we took turns a starin'
Through the window at the darkness
'Til boredom overtook us
And he commenced to speak

He said, 'Son, I've made a life
Out of readin' people's faces
And knowin' what their cards were
By the way they held their eyes
And if you don't mind my sayin'
I would say you're out of aces
And for one taste of your whiskey
I will give you some advice'

So I handed him my bottle
And he drank down my last swallow
Then he bummed a cigarette
Then he bummed a light
The night got deathly quiet
And his face lost all expression
He said, 'If you're gonna play the game, boy
You better learn to play it right'

'Cause ev'ry gambler knows
That the secret to survival
Is knowin' what to throw away
And knowin' what to keep
And ev'ry hand's a winner
Just like ev'ry hand's a loser
And the best that you can hope for
Is to die in your sleep.

You got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run
You don't ever count your money
While you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin' is done

You got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run
You don't ever count your money
While you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin' is done

And when he finished speakin'
He turned back t'ward the window
Put out his cigarette
Faded off to sleep
And somewhere in the darkness
The gambler he broke even
But in his final words
I found an ace that I could keep

You got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run
You don't ever count your money
While you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin' is done

You got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run
You don't ever count your money
While you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin' is done

You got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run
You don't ever count your money
While you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin' is done

 

[fox69]

"The Gettysburg Address"

"The Gettysburg Address"



"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow - this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

 

[fox69]

"The Gifts They Gave"

"The Gifts They Gave"



Jesus our King, kind and good
Was humbly born in a stable of wood
And the lowly beasts around Him stood
Jesus our King, kind and good

"I", said the donkey, shaggy and brown
"I carried His mother up and down
I carried His mother to Bethlehem town"
"I", said the donkey, shaggy and brown

"I", said the ox, "This was my hay
I gave Him my manger, 'twas here that He lay
I gave Him my manger, 'twas here that He lay"
"I", said the ox, "This was my hay"

"I" said the sheep with pearly horn
"I gave Him my wool for a blanket warm
He wore my coat on Christmas morn"
"I", said the sheep with pearly horn

"I", said the dove, from the rafters high
"I sang Him to sleep that He would not cry
We sang Him to sleep, my love and I"
"I", said the dove, from the rafters high

And so every heart, by some good spell
In the stable dark, was glad to tell
Of the gift that he gave to Emmanuel
Of the gift that he gave to Emmanuel

 

[fox69]

"The Good Earth"

"The Good Earth"



The good earth swallows up the seed and swallows life as well
From long before the day you're born till heaven comes or hell
It binds your hands with chains of clay that are so hard to break
But when I left good earth behind I made a big mistake

I've traveled far and traveled wide
I've seen a lot of things
But looking back on all the years
I don't know what they mean
Like steel I'm probably stronger
From going through the fire
I kept on climbin' lower
Diggin' deeper to get higher

I turned around one evening when the sun was going down
I heard the Bible told a preacher who just pulled into town
At last I'm back on good earth where I should have always been
Lord forgive me if I ever try to leave good earth again

Well the good earth was my mama and my daddy too
Now I'm working my hands in soil tryin' to pay my due
And when I'll breathe my last breath which may not be too long
Just shovel a little good earth over my head
'Til everybody open up the hymn book and sing a happy song

Shall we gather at the river in the sweet by and by
Just as I am Jesus loves me one of these days I'll fly
I'm standing on the promises Lord build the place for me
In the good earth over Jordan by the Sea of Galilee mhm

 

[fox69]

"The Greatest Cowboy Of Them All"

"The Greatest Cowboy Of Them All"



I have always had my heroes I've loved a lot of legends
Many men in my mind are ridin' tall
But my cowboy hero hats off to the man who rode a donkey
He's the greatest cowboy of them all
He loves all his little doggies he speaks to them kind and gently
And he'll lift up any maverick that falls
He sees every stray that scatters like it's the only one that matters
He's the greatest cowboy of them all
Once he rode into the sunset but some returning sunrise
He'll call up all the riders in the sky
I gotta get my roll together gettin' ready for that sunrise
That winds up where old cowboys never die
The trail he rides is narrow but it's straighter than an arrow
And he rides point for all the great and small
He will take us through the wire onto that plain that's higher
He's the greatest cowboy of them all
Once he rode into the sunset...
He's the greatest cowboy of them all

 

[fox69]

"The Hard Way"

"The Hard Way"



Oh, the hells I
Put myself through
The fights I
Didn't need to fight
This thick head of mine
Ya couldn't get through
Had to do it wrong
Just to get it right
...just to get it right

I learned the Hard Way
The hard way taught me well
The hard way
Sure put me (this boy) through some hell
The hard way
Taught me how to tell
The right way from the wrong
And on which side I belong

Deep are the memories
As a young boy
Of the lessons
That I learned
My mama warnin' me
That fire is no toy
Ya play with fire boy
And you get burned
...Oh I got burned

I learned the Hard Way
I learned the Hard Way

What others learned in Sunday school
I learned by gettin' black n' blue

I learned the Hard Way
I learned the Hard Way