Monday, October 6, 2008

A man ain't nothin but a man

This weekend we queued up the classic country in our itunes library as we went about chores, and dinner, and time with siblings. I've mentioned it before, but I am a fan of music in general. There is something about classic country, though. Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, EmmyLou Harris, nothing quite like it. But I digress.

So our weekend soundtrack was trains and old dogs and mammas and jail. Old Golden Throat himself, Johnny Cash came across the speakers and told us the story of John Henry. The song was written years ago about a man who lived back before years ago. A key to successful folk songs is their ability to stay relevant, and one line stuck out as particularly relevant.

John Henry's foreman announced the end of Henry in the form of a steam hammer. To which he replied "Did the Lord say that machines oughtta take the place of livin? And what's the substitute for bread and beans? I ain't seen it. Do engines get rewarded for their steam?"

Pretty self explanatory.

1 comment:

aporitic said...

Here's a thing if you haven't heard of them:

The Brothers Four.