Johnny Cash, one of the most influential country singer-songwriters of all time, has gone viral on TikTok as his songs have been picked up to trend.
Cash has a vast catalog of popular and critically acclaimed work, but it's the humorous song “The Chicken in Black” that caught TikTok's attention.
The song is about Cash receiving a brain transplant and becoming a criminal while robbing a bank. When he tries to get his old brain back, the doctor who performed the transplant reveals that he transplanted it into a chicken, who is now making money as a performer.
The paper said in 2014 that Cash revealed in his autobiography that he made the song “deliberately awful” as a way to get back at his label, Columbia, which he believed had neglected him.
The TikTok trend comes as Universal Music prepares to release Cash's posthumous album Songwriter, which features 11 of Cash's original songs, on June 28, 2024.
TikTok users participating in this trend often hold up their dogs and point them like guns at the camera to show off. As they do so, they sing along to the lyrics of Cash's “The Chicken in Black.”
“I said, 'Guys, shut up, we're robbing people here/Put all your money in my guitar case/No one moves, no one reaches into that door.'”
According to TikTok, “The Chicken in Black” is now in the top 10 most popular songs on TikTok, along with “Like That!” and others. by Laila! and “Tell Ur Girlfriend” by Ray Banks. It stands out among the average pop songs.
Who is Johnny Cash?
According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Cash was born into poverty, growing up on government land and working on a cotton farm.
After high school, Cash served four years in the Air Force. After his return, he married his first wife, Vivian Liberto, and moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he worked as an appliance salesman and radio host.
Shortly thereafter, Cash approached Sun Records Studios seeking a recording contract, but was initially turned down. Undaunted, he returned and made his first recording, which was a success, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
His stardom would rise even further from there, cementing him as one of the greatest musicians of all time.
Johnny Cash's most popular songs
“The Chicken in Black” may be trending right now, but it's not nearly as popular as these cherished Johnny Cash classics.
“I Walk the Line”
One of his earliest songs, “I Walk the Line,” became his first song to reach number one on the Billboard charts and remains popular to this day. The song was written for his wife Vivian and is about his devotion and devotion to her.
“Folsom Prison Blues”
The song was also one of his earliest recordings, and became a No. 1 hit a few years after its 1968 release, when he performed it live to a crowd of inmates at Folsom State Prison. The film includes the iconic line, “But I shot a guy in Reno just to watch him die.”
'hurt'
According to Genius, Cash's cover of 'Hurt', originally written and performed by the band Nine Inch Nails, is a moving culmination of his life and work.
According to Genius, the song was released shortly before Cash's death in 2003, and has an accompanying music video, ranking it number two on the Rolling Stones' list of the 100 Greatest Music Videos. There is.