Songs of Our Soil

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Songs of Our Soil
Studio album by Johnny Cash

Publication
(s)

1959

Label (s) Columbia Records

Genre (s)

Country music

Title (number)

12

running time

25:40

occupation
  • Johnny Cash, vocals, guitar
  • Morris Palmer, drums
  • Marvin Hughes, piano

production

Don Law

chronology
Hymns by Johnny Cash Songs of Our Soil Sings Hank Williams

Songs of Our Soil is the sixth studio album by the American country singer Johnny Cash . It was released on Columbia Records in September 1959 and was produced by Don Law .

The single Five Feet High and Rising reached the top 15 in the country and number 76 in the pop charts .

Content of the songs

Almost all of the songs on the album are about death, which sets it apart from Cash's previous albums. In earlier works like The Fabulous Johnny Cash love played a big role, but in Songs of Our Soil only the first song Drink to Me is about love.

Five Feet High and Rising is a song about the Mississippi flood that nearly tore the Cash house in Arkansas away in the 1930s .

The Man on the Hill is about a poor farming family who depend on their neighbors. Death already seems to be encircling them. Similarly, the protagonists in Hank and Joe and Me , which tells the story of three men who died of thirst in the desert while they were looking for gold. Clementine is about a lost love, but here too death plays a central role.

The Great Speckled Bird is a gospel song about the sky, while The Caretaker is about a cemetery keeper who wonders who will take care of his funeral when he dies. I Want to Go Home is about a boat trip that becomes torture for the protagonist because he longs for his home.

Old Apache Squaw is the first piece in which Cash deals with the fate of the Native Americans . It begs the question of how long the Apaches will have to suffer before something is done. Don't Step on Mother's Roses is about your parents dying and you getting older yourself. My Grandfather's Clock tells of the death of a grandfather, whose grandfather clock stopped chiming when he died. The conclusion is marked by the gospel song It Could Be You (Instead of Him) , which philosophizes about helpfulness .

Track list

  1. "Drink to Me" (Cash) - 1:54
  2. "Five Feet High and Rising" (Cash) - 1:46
  3. "The Man on the Hill" (Cash) - 2:09
  4. "Hank and Joe and Me" (Cash) - 2:13
  5. "Clementine" (Billy Mize, Buddy Mize) - 2:30
  6. "Great Speckled Bird" (Traditional) - 2:09
  7. "I Want to Go Home" (Traditional) - 1:58
  8. "The Caretaker" (Cash) - 2:06
  9. "Old Apache Squaw" (Cash) - 1:46
  10. "Don't Step on Mother's Roses" (Cash) - 2:34
  11. "My Grandfather's Clock" (Traditional) - 2:45
  12. "It Could Be You (Instead of Him)" (Vic McAlpin) - 1:50

Bonus tracks from the CD edition

  1. "I Got Stripes" (Cash, Charlie Williams) - 2:05
  2. "You Dreamer You" (Cash) - 1:49