Cash Refund

A year ago I wrote in Touchstone about the haunting Christian imagery of the music video of the late Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' song "Hurt." The article noted the contrast of this video, which featured images of an dying, weakened Cash and his wife June shortly before their deaths, losing at the MTV Video Awards to bubblegum pop-star Justin Timberlake. This year, Timberlake and Cash are together again, in a way that almost completely evacuates Cash's music of what made it unique.

It is hard to see how the video of Cash's song "God's Gonna Cut You Down" from his posthumously released American V: A Hundred Highways album could be more out of place. The song is a chilling reminder of God's final judgment, of His all-seeing evaluation of human action, of His eschatological justice. Cash sings:

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

These lyrics, explicitly Christian in their message, come with added emotional momentum precisely because they are sung by a dead man, or rather by a man who was living when he recorded them but who now has faced the judgment himself. The video of "Hurt" communicated exactly what the dying Cash seemed to understand, echoing Solomon of old: wealth, celebrity, fame, all of it is vanity in the maw of the grave. By contrasting images of the young celebrated Cash with images of the old, gasping, arthritic Cash, his "House of Cash" closed down and boarded over, the video turned then to what Cash saw as the only real alternative to his empire of dirt: the cross of Christ Jesus.

The video for "God's Gonna Cut You Down," however, is a "Where's Waldo" of youth and celebrity. Cash's voice sings of human inability to escape the wrath to come while the images run past of current celebrities: Timberlake, Sheryl Crow, Chris Rock, Bono, Johnny Depp, Lisa Marie Presley, the Dixie Chicks.

On the one hand, there is something jarring about seeing the most celebrated "stars" of the moment mouthing words about God "sooner or later" cutting us down. The vanity of the celebrities themselves is evident up against these sober words. But what is missing here, at least visually, is the warning of the song itself: the inevitability of death.

The celebrities who agreed to show up in this video probably saw this as a good career move, or perhaps as an afternoon's tribute to the "Man in Black." I wonder if any of them realized, as they lip-synced Cash's song, what he came to see. God doesn't subscribe to Us Weekly. If there is Botox, it will fail. If there is silicon, it will cease. If there are groupies, they will leave. If there are royalties, they will wither away. Only love is as strong as death (Song of Songs 8:6).

And love isn't a commodity to be sold, or a song idea to be packaged. He's a Man in White.

Comments

[Gene Godbold]

I dunno Russell,
It's got Kristofferson and Keith Richards in there, too, so it's not exactly a youth parade. And the brief appearances of each seem to visually make the same point as Ecclesiastes. It's all fleeting.

We need redemption and there's a hint in the video (at least) of where that is to be found.

[GL]

It certainly isn't as good at complimenting the lyrics as the Hurt video, but if I am not mistaken, Sheryl Crow had surgery for breast cancer earlier this year. Perhaps she has a greater sense of her own mortality as well.

[S.K. Davis]

Good heavens, did we view the same video? There are frequent reminders of Christ's death and our redemption throughout it. It's like a music video version of the Dance of Death.

It's rather cynical to say, without really knowing their motives, that "The celebrities who agreed to show up in this video probably saw this as a good career move, or perhaps as an afternoon's tribute to the 'Man in Black.'"

[Ethan Cordray]

Surely at least some of them might believe in the message they are supporting? While there are certainly some long-tongued liars, midnight riders, ramblers, gamblers, and back biters in that video, maybe that message will sink in.

[James D.]

I have to agree that, while not as powerful as "Hurt", this one still had some punch to it. What I saw was a bunch of celebrities not reveling in their star status but rather seeming to realize that, as Mr. Godbold wrote, it was all right out of Ecclesiastes. They certainly didn't look full of themselves or even happy.

[Nick]

Mr. Richards, I think at the least, was probably the best face to show. Some of the rest were questionable. I hardly think Kid Rock has ever voiced a moral opinion in his life.

That being said I was tickled to death that Mr. Moore knew who NIN is. *Some* of their songs have been a guilty pleasure for years (I did say *some* I'm not entirely damned).

[JB]

"On the one hand, there is something jarring about seeing the most celebrated "stars" of the moment mouthing words about God "sooner or later" cutting us down. The vanity of the celebrities themselves is evident up against these sober words. But what is missing here, at least visually, is the warning of the song itself: the inevitability of death.

"The celebrities who agreed to show up in this video probably saw this as a good career move, or perhaps as an afternoon's tribute to the "Man in Black." I wonder if any of them realized, as they lip-synced Cash's song, what he came to see. God doesn't subscribe to Us Weekly. If there is Botox, it will fail. If there is silicon, it will cease. If there are groupies, they will leave. If there are royalties, they will wither away. Only love is as strong as death (Song of Songs 8:6)."

I felt the same way, Dr. Moore, when I first saw the "God's Gonna Cut You Down" video. But after watching it a few times, I'm starting to wonder if the overt use of celebrities masks a more subtle and devastating meaning - namely, that all those famous folks who presume to know God without embracing the message of the Gospel (not unlike the way many "cozied up" to the aging Cash) are going to be revealed as fools in the end.

Perhaps no such meaning was intended. Perhaps it really is just a lame attempt to make the video popular by lacing it with cameos. But I can't escape the tremendous cognitive dissonance that grows every time I view it.

[Ethan Cordray]

JB, that's precisely what the video made me think as well. I don't know if the irony is intentional on the part of the director or not, but the image of these famous people, with their ephemeral riches and empty posturing exposed in stark black and white, every line and pore of their aging faces visible, made me see the video as a powerful critique of our celebrity culture.

Sure, they're singing Johnny's lyrics, but Johnny is also singing to them, if they have ears to hear him.

[Van Fundy]

I agree with JB above: I think there's a "subplot" of sorts in the "God's Gonna Cut You Down" video. I can't remember the director's name right now, but as with the "Hurt" video, there is something haunting in the "God's Gonna" piece. Juxtaposing the images of celebrities with the voice and words of Cash creates the ironic effect. I wouldn't be surprised if the director knew what he was doing when he asked these artists to participate. And even if he did not, I think the effect is still there. "To him who has ears to hear..."

[Robert E. Sagers]

Here's a link to a story that MTV News did on the video about a month ago, along with a quote from the story:

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http://www.mtv.com/news/?source=TLD_mtvnews.com#/news/articles/1546013/20061116/story.jhtml

[Robert E. Sagers]

I'm sorry, the quote didn't make it the first time. Here it is:

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The pursuit of the cool only gets you so far.

[Robert E. Sagers]

And one last time, the quote is:

Once they agreed on the concept, Rubin asked a few friends to make a list of the 10 coolest people on the planet. "At least five of the people in the video were on everyone's list," he said, "and Iggy was on a lot of lists, so it just felt right to open with him. I don't know what that message is, but it just feels right."

[Manda]

The meaning is about who is in power in America right now - the obvious significance of Keith Richards skull ring (skull and bones society) and the other guy doing the triangle/pyramid sign (freemasons). The famous peoples' commonality is they are all aware of what is going on and want others to be aware too. As this was one of the last songs Johhny Cash recorded before he died I would guess that he wasn't happy about what has been going on either.