with mtv nomination, another generation discovers cash's cool
by renee graham

07.29.03

the first time i heard johnny cash, i had nightmares for weeks. when his granite-hard voice poured out of my grandmother's radio, it arched my 10-year-old spine. he sang of a wild young man who, though he had murdered 20 men by the age of 10, was due to hang for a killing he didn't commit. as serious and sobering as a news dispatch, the song sounded like nothing i had ever heard before, and i was completely unnerved as it cut through the gummy summer air.

what most affected me -- other than the grim, sharp thunk of the gallows' trapdoor swinging open as the warden sang ''happy birthday'' to the condemned man who turned 20 the day he died -- was cash's voice. every syllable sounded like a cold truth, as real and stirring as a sunday sermon. it both frightened me and made a fan for life. years later, i would learn the name of the song was ''joe bean,'' and it remains a favorite, especially since the nightmares have subsided.

now, the mtv generation has discovered what i learned on that summer night three decades ago: johnny cash rules.

last week, the iconic singer-songwriter became the oldest artist ever nominated for an mtv video music award when his clip for ''hurt'' garnered six nods, including video of the year. cash, 71, will compete in that category against 50 cent (''in da club''), missy elliott (''work it''), justin timberlake (''cry me a river''), and eminem (''lose yourself'').

at a time when most videos are splashy and laden with special effects, the mark romanek-directed clip for ''hurt,'' a cover of a nine inch nails song, is stark and devastating. the video features shots of the singer, ravaged by the rare neurological disorder shy-drager syndrome, and his beloved wife, june carter cash (who died in may), in their tennessee home, interspersed with scenes of cash in younger, healthier days. adding to the overall feeling of loss and the hard passage of time are glimpses of cash's flood-damaged memorabilia museum.

although the video probably received fewer rotations on mtv in a month than, say, 50 cent's ''in da club'' received on an average day, its impact was deeply felt. alternative rock stations began to play the song, featured on cash's critically acclaimed 2002 album, ''american iv: the man comes around,'' which has gone gold (500,000 copies sold).

when the nominations were announced, cash, in a statement, said, ''i am overwhelmed by this great honor. i thank you all for thinking of me. it's been 48 years since i cut my first record and it's nice that people are still digging them up.''

forty-eight years -- anyone think we'll still be hearing from eminem or justin timberlake in 2051?

in a culture where a once-hot singer can be washed up at 21, longevity certainly has its place, yet cash has done more than simply outlive and outlast the competition. through doo-wop, british rock, punk, disco, and hip-hop, he has remained relevant. his unembellished voice, the conviction of his words, and most of all, his honesty, the signature of his music, never goes out of style.

in 1994, as gangsta rap was beginning to take hold, cash released ''delia's gone'' (which also aired on mtv), a harsh song about a man who murders the woman he loves. people began to call cash an ''o.g.'' -- ''original gangsta'' -- equating his song to those of the wannabe gangstas who reveled in their mayhem. what they missed was that by the song's end, the murderer sat in a jail cell sleepless and haunted by ''the patter of delia's feet.'' most gangsta rap portrays violence as candy; cash reveals it as it is -- a bitter, impossible-to-swallow pill.

in 1969, richard goldstein, now a writer for the village voice, wrote in vogue: ''thing about johnny cash is, you can't pin him down between margins, in quotes and metaphors, like nearly every other pop species. he defies classification by sound, scene, or sensibility.''

all these years later those words still resonate. even people who don't like country music like johnny cash. he's been embraced by rock fans and those who like r&b because his music reaches the heart and rocks the soul. stubborn, passionate, and defiant, he is perhaps the most american of all singers, embodying in his music so much of what makes this nation as vexing as it is incomparable.

it almost doesn't matter whether cash walks away with a mtv ''moonman'' at the aug. 28 ceremony at radio city music hall in new york. his legacy was sealed decades ago. and although it would be something to see cash getting an ovation on that stage, what's most important is that his granite-hard voice, though aged, remains emotionally powerful for another generation just discovering the man in black.

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