Tag: John Leventhal

Rosanne Cash Takes a Stand With “Crawl Into the Promised Land”

Rosanne Cash engages with the pressing issues we face with her new angry yet hopeful song, “Crawl Into the Promised Land.”

Rosanne Cash has released a timely new song with John Leventhal, “Crawl Into the Promised Land.” The song tackles many of the issues we have been facing in 2020. In a handwritten note accompanying the song on her website, Cash asks about “Why we elected such an unfit person to guide us, Why do we kill Black people with impunity, Why our leaders dismantle and mock every institution. . . .”

Cash adds that the “magnitude of the moment requires time and an ocean of reflection.” Recognizing that an election is approaching, the song lyrics ask us to be delivered from Tweets and lies. But it is deep down a song of hope. I even detect what seems to be a reference to her father Johnny Cash (“The old man surely must have known / To kick the lights and make his stand / Would give us strength back from the brink.”

The video that accompanies “Crawl Into the Promised Land” song is a “visual corollary,” offering images including the Civil Rights, women’s rights movements, and such important figures as the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The video was directed by Phyllis Housen and Eric Baker. Check it out.

Proceeds from the song go to the Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Remembering Johnny Cash During “September When It Comes”

    Johnny Cash, who passed away in September 2003, recorded a moving duet with his daughter Rosanne Cash on “September When It Comes.”

    Johnny Cash Roseanne I plan to crawl outside these walls,
    Close my eyes and see.
    And fall into the heart and arms,
    Of those who wait for me.

    The month makes me think of the lovely duet between Johnny Cash and his daughter Rosanne Cash on “September When It Comes.” The song appeared on Rosanne’s excellent album, Rules of Travel (2003), and she wrote it with her husband and producer John Leventhal. The song is a reflection on mortality, and it is given extra gravitas by the voice of the ailing Johnny, who passed away on September 12, 2003, just months after the CD was released.

    A video of the song was shown at the Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute concert held in November 2003 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Rosanne Cash’s website explains that many of the photos in the montage came from the family’s private photo collection and had never been seen by the public before this tribute.

    The tribute concert is no longer on YouTube, but the following seems to be the same video used at the tribute concert. This official video from Rosanne Cash features amazing family photos.

    I particularly love the song’s beautiful lines about aging and remembering one’s youth and recognizing that maybe it was not quite as one remembers it.

    I cannot move a mountain now;
    I can no longer run.
    I cannot be who I was then:
    In a way, I never was.

    I often do not remember the dates that people died for various reasons. But because of Johnny Cash’s duet on “September When It Comes,” I cannot help remembering that he passed away during the month of September.  Of course, September will always be a month that our generation of Americans associate with mortality because of the terrorist attacks that occurred in 2001. So, in honor of Johnny and others who passed away in Septembers past, lets resolve to enjoy these September days because you never know how many more will come.

    What is your favorite photo in the montage of the “September When It Comes” tribute? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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