Music: Johnny Cash

A great picks up an 80's vintage tune and makes it his own.

I’m gonna admit that I sort of like Johnny Cash. No, not all of his music, but he is authentic, and he is who he is.

But songs like Folsom Prison Blues, and others from that era really resonate.

But I am not here to talk about that. No, late in his life, he did an album called “Cash” where he played heartfelt covers.

And now, I need to go on a diversion. The band Depeche Mode, an 80’s Rock band that I was barely aware of until I dated a woman in the 1990’s who broadened my tastes to some of the 80’s “Modern Rock” scene (I will admit that I never really got into her favorite, Madonna, but that is for another story).

Anyhow, the one song from Depeche Mode that stuck with me was Personal Jesus. It has a snappy riff, laden with synths, and bubbly percussion. Your typical feel good sounding tune from that era.

Decades later, during a vacation my wife and I started using the term “Baby Jesus” because we were visiting museums throughout Europe (France and Italy in particular) and there are tons of paintings of Pietas and Madonna with the infant Jesus hanging on the walls. So it was our thing. “Baaaaaabbbbyyyyy Jeeeeesssuuuusss”

Of course, we connected that to the DM song “Personal Jesus” adding the word “baby” between those words. It was hilarious, at least to us¹.

I had long forgotten about this, but a few years ago, I heard the aforementioned cover by Johnny Cash, and it all came flooding back.

Yet, I have to say while there are a few covers of Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus, notably by Marilyn Manson, the cover by Mr. Cash is just exceptional. It is him, a guitar, and his signature sound. He adapts the music to him, and I just love it. It rolled up in my daily grind playlist, and I had to share.

I hope you enjoy this little bit of sunshine.

1. It did almost get us kicked out of a museum in France though for behaving “irreverently”, and that was funnier still

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