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Johnny Cash Came Back

from Roses in the Snow & Drought by Joanne Rand

/

lyrics

Johnny Cash Came Back –Peter Peteet & Joanne Rand
F F
Johnny Cash came back to Jackson
F F
But not to fool around
F F
Cuz this wasn't Mississippi
F F
It was Georgia's killing town
C C
And I know they say that Tennessee grave
Bb Bb
Is holding his body down
C C
But I swear he was there in Jackson
Bb
With a finger up
Bb F F F F
For the men who held Troy down
F F
Well Johnny Cash, he dressed in black
F F
While Troy was born with it as skin
F F
But they shared that inner fire
F F
Knew the hole a needle made when it tore in
C C
And seeing flowers in the darkness
Bb Bb
With a love of all their fellow men
C C
They held on tight through the red-hot night
Bb
Never did let go.
Bb F F F F
Never did give in
The fire raged inside them both
They told of how they'd let us down
And of that deepest darkness that shook them
When love and reason came back ‘round
They knew an empire was just dirt
And the answers few and curt:
Your skin ain't nothin but a shirt
We all have to go away someday
Life is painful dirty work

There's victims in every time
And when your eyes stare back at you
Will you answer to yourself
That you were loyal, that you were true?
Was your life one that could have been?
Did you sing out loud into the din?
Let the words flow out into the night
Of all you saw, wrong or right

Well they shot Troy in Jackson
It was just the other night
All the Judges they had sworn
And they had signed that it was right.
They used a needle not a gun
Used two to spare the skin of one
They all stared hard and watched him die
Not a one of them was singin’ … they could only sigh
At what they’d done

As the poison and the state
Ended a case as gray as slate
Salt came and claimed this one
With a needle not a gun
It also washed down my face
Everywhere there is a gritty trace
Behind my back is every race
Raging on in mortified disgrace
At what was done

F Bb C Bb
Are you watching?
F Bb C Bb
For how long?
F Bb C Bb
Are you singing?
F Bb C Bb
What’s your song?
F Bb C Bb
Oh, Johnny you are so right
F C F F
To shoot the bird at what is wrong.

credits

from Roses in the Snow & Drought, released January 1, 2017
Written by Peter Peteet & Joanne Rand
© Joanne Rand, Homefire Productions, BMI.
www.JoanneRandMusic.com
•Produced by Joanne Rand, Stephen Hart, & Piet Dalmolen
•Arrangement by Joanne Rand

•Joanne Rand- Acoustic guitar, vocals, clarinet, bass

•Mixed & mastered by Stephen Hart (Two Rock Digital, Petaluma, CA)
•Recorded by Piet Dalmolen (Universal Balance Studios, Arcata, CA)
•Photos: Greg King Photography

Dedicated to Steve Young, Tom King & all great souls who passed this year.

PO Box 586, Arcata, CA 95518 USA

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Joanne Rand Arcata

“A fixture of the Northern California folk scene, Rand’s life, activism & art are woven seamlessly together. A celebrated musician, composer & teacher. From stripped-down folk songs to lush, textured rock arrangements, she makes consistently engaging, perceptive, universal music.”-SFStation.com 2012. Touring nationally for 30 years, Rand is currently releasing 15th CD of original songs. ... more

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