"Hurt" by Johnny Cash

New Orleans, Johnny Cash, and the World.

I want to be in New Orleans. I've been thinking about it a LOT lately. just how much i liked it there. How happy it makes me to be in that town. I used to walk around until my feet hurt, just because i wanted to be in it.

I finally watched the Video to HURT by Johnny Cash. wow. pretty damn powerful images. I think about this guy, not just how iconic he is, but how hollow he makes other artists look. I see these images and i'd say a handful of people have ever had that kind of swaggar. I cannot imagine any of today's 'stars' carrying that much righteous presence. Bono is as close as we get. Another thing that gets me is the honesty that was there. do you know anyone else (including crime glorifying rappers) that would go perform in a PRISON? let alone make an album from it (a great one too). The thing that got me was that this was a man who had done some awful things in his life, and he believed you have to pay your debts, but when they are paid, they are paid. It was interesting to me because he wasn't saying "i feel sorry for you" or "its ok", because it wasn't. what he did say was 'i understand'. Listen to 'The Man in Black':

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down
Livin' in the hopeless hungry side of town
...But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back
Up front there oughta be a man in black.

In an odd twist, I've been very happy about the way my life is going and very down about the way the world is going...my world in particular. my country and my state. its an odd dicotomy and often leaves me wondering how to feel. something is up and i don't know how to deal with it...and i don't know what that's like.

"Something is happening here, and you don't know what it is...do you, Mr. Jones?"