God’s Gonna Cut You Down – By Johnny Cash
Before you read any further, you need to watch the music video.
Dear God, recorded in 2003, but released posthumously in 2006, this song might be my favorite of Johnny Cash’s songs. There is a mood in the singing of this song that not many women or men could create. But what really struck me about this song was how someone envisioned and produced the video that goes with it.
First, here are the lyrics to the song (as if you don’t already know them):
You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liar,
go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
Well, my goodness gracious let me tell you the news
My head’s been wet with the midnight dew
I’ve been down on bended knee
Talkin’ to the man from Galilee
He spoke to me in the voice so sweet
I thought, I heard the shuffle of the angel’s feet
He called my name and my heart stood still
When he said, “John, go do my will”
Go tell that long tongue liar,
go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Well, you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin’ in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What’s down in the dark will be brought to the light
You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liar, go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
The video, however, is interesting because it shows a host of people lip-syncing the song. Here’s the list from Wikipedia in order of appearance: In order of appearance; Iggy Pop, Kanye West, Chris Martin, Kris Kristofferson, Patti Smith, Terrence Howard, Flea, Q-Tip, Adam Levine, Chris Rock, Justin Timberlake, Kate Moss, Sir Peter Blake, Sheryl Crow, Dennis Hopper, Woody Harrelson, Amy Lee, Tommy Lee, the Dixie Chicks, Mick Jones, Sharon Stone, Bono, Shelby Lynne, Anthony Kiedis, Travis Barker, Lisa Marie Presley, Kid Rock, Jay-Z, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons, Corinne Bailey Rae, Johnny Depp, Graham Nash (holding photos of Johnny Cash), Brian Wilson.
Frankly, I wouldn’t have thought of most of these people as God-fearing. Maybe Bono. But as I read the rest of the list I wondered what these people think of the lyrics. How do they see you? How do they see themselves? How did the video producer (Tony Kaye) come up with this list, what was the message he was communicating by choosing these people, and what was his pitch to each of them as he got them to do it? For example, he calls Keith Richards and says, “_____.” I can’t even imagine what I would say to Keith Richards to get him to participate in a video talking about you cutting sinners down and bringing them back to yourself.
I guess I think Tony’s message to me is, “There is something in all of us, no matter how ungodly and wicked, that knows we need to come back to God.” At least that is my inference. When I see some of these people, whom I must admit I have pre-judged as being Godless, participating in this song I wonder if the message isn’t, “Even the most staunch atheist has a little part of her or his conscience that knows they are running from God.”
Father, the truth is, I try to run away from you all of the time. My submission to you is a constant battle. Every day I make decisions that try to help me increase and you decrease. It is a moment-by-moment struggle. In the end, my name could easily be added to the list of celebrities above as just as big of a long tongue liar, midnight rider, rambler, gambler, and back biter as any of them.
Emails to God 