Johnny Cash

Album: Raise Vibration (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Lenny Kravitz penned "Johnny Cash" as a tribute to the Man in Black after Cash helped the singer through one of the darkest moments of his life. The country star gave Kravitz moral support when his mother passed away from breast cancer in 1995.
  • The story behind the song is that Kravitz was staying at producer Rick Rubin's house so he could be with his mom during her last days. Johnny and June Cash were also living there as the country star was working on his Unchained album with Rubin.

    "One day I'd left the hospital to go home and shower but in that time my mom passed. I got the phone call at the house. I am standing at the bottom of the stairs, distraught, as Johnny and June were coming down the stairs," Kravitz recalled to The Sun. "I was crushed and confused and they grabbed me and said really sweet things about my mom and life. They spent a good 10 minutes with me, giving me this support."

    "My mom had just passed, there was not a family person in sight, so God chooses this moment for me," he added. "The moment my mom dies, I am alone, but who comes and walks in the scene? Johnny Cash and June Carter. It was so surreal and bizarre."

    "So basically, as the chorus kept writing itself, I am basically asking this person to comfort me in this deep way that I haven't felt since the day Johnny Cash held me," Kravitz concluded. "A very roundabout way of telling this story but that's what it came from."
  • The song's title came from the line "hold me like Johnny Cash," which came after Kravitz broke up with someone. He explained: "I'm saying how they make me a better person and I don't want this to end, just hold me like Johnny Cash."
  • Kravitz told the BBC the song was never something he planned to write. "I heard the melody, I heard the music, but I did not understand why I was getting the words 'Johnny Cash,'" he recalled. "It obviously is something that impacted me and has been sitting within my spirit."
  • The song's music video was directed by Mathieu Bitton. The French-born art designer and photographer tours the world with Lenny Kravitz, photographing his shows, making films and designing his artwork. The clip presents footage of Kravitz in the studio on his own and directing a string section on the song.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Angelo Moore of Fishbone

Angelo Moore of FishboneSongwriter Interviews

Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many Songs

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many SongsSong Writing

For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.