Cash & Ohio

After listening to different versions of “On the Banks of the Ohio”, I have to say that Johnny Cash’s version had the biggest effect on me. I expected there to be some changes throughout the song, whether they had to do with Cash’s voice or the way he played the guitar. Instead, the rhythm and and melody stayed constant throughout, which made the lyrics have a bigger effect. Johnny’s expression says consistent throughout, whether he is talking about walking with his love, or murdering her. It was also interesting to hear the changes in lyrics in Cash’s version of the song when compared to other versions of “On the Banks of the Ohio.”

If one listened to the melody of this song, without hearing any of the lyrics, one might never guess what this song was about, or what the lyrics entailed. Thinking about this reminds me that this is considered a folk song, and it wouldn’t be so without there being any tension. The tension between the melody and lyrics is certainly there, and that idea is most clearly expressed when you come to realize that Cash sings “I asked my love to take a walk” in the exact same way as he does “I plunged a knife into her breast”. There is definitely still some despair that you can hear in Cash’s voice, but it still does not do justice to the events portrayed in the song.

Comments

[adriana moosekian]

In Johnny Cash’s rendition of On the Banks, many of you commented that Cash’s vocals, instrumentation, and rhythm were monotonous and so interpreted the song as numb and unemotional towards the subject matter of the song. Also, many of your posts related Cash’s steady instrumentation/vocals with surprisingly dark disturbing lyrics to Professor Carson’s definition of folk music as having tension between melody and idea.
Though Cash’s monotony of the song is clear, there are some varied opinions among your posts as to whether or not it contains emotion. Do you think that Cash is expressing a different emotion through his monotony, or is he completely unmoved/unemotional by the female subject and his murder? Perhaps his low monotonous tone ironically serves to greater emphasize his depression, or his inability to cope with what he has done, resulting in a repressing numbness in his tone. Think deeply about Cash’s purpose for his vocal tone and instrumentation manner. Why do you think he chose to sing the way he did? What might he have wanted to convey to his listeners? If he sang with more melodic variation, what effect would this have on the song? Would it feel more/less authentic? Consider a few of your peers’ posts on these issues:
http://benleedscarson.com/by-banks-in-pines/author/hunterswanson
http://benleedscarson.com/by-banks-in-pines/author/navidramirez
http://benleedscarson.com/by-banks-in-pines/author/christopherwichmann
Please do not feel that you have to answer all or be limited to these questions. Comment to each other what you find interesting or how you feel about any of these issues raised. Even if this topic is not relevant to your original post, try to get involved with discussion anyway! I encourage you all to express your opinions to each other, and please, don’t be afraid of a little dispute!