Johnny Cash – Folsom Prison Blues

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I hear the train a comin'
It's rollin' 'round the bend,
And I ain't seen the sunshine
Since, I don't know when
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison
And time keeps draggin' on
But that train keeps a-rollin'
On down to San Antone

When I was just a baby
My Mama told me, "Son
Always be a good boy
Don't ever play with guns,"
But I shot a man in Reno
Just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowin'
I hang my head and cry

I bet there's rich folks eatin'
In a fancy dining car
They're probably drinkin' coffee
And smokin' big cigars
But I know I had it comin'
I know I can't be free
But those people keep a-movin'
And that's what tortures me

Well, if they freed me from this prison
If that railroad train was mine
I bet I'd move out over a little
Farther down the line
Far from Folsom Prison
That's where I want to stay
And I'd let that lonesome whistle
Blow my blues away

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Lyrics submitted by toterkater

Track duration: 02:43

"Folsom Prison Blues" as written by Johnny R. Cash

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group

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Folsom Prison Blues song meanings
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33 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Two points:

    1. The points brought up before (Capone, Terry Nichols, etc) deal with FEDERAL crimes, and prisoners of the FEDERAL penitentiary system. Therefore, they would go to ANY FEDERAL INSTITUTION in the USA. Shooting a man in Reno would, in most cases, be a state crime, and after being convicted you would be sent to a STATE prison in Nevada.

    2. I think Johnny Cash was drawing a parallel to what he was experiencing in the AF: He wasn't a big fan of the service, and anyone who doesn't quite fit into the military life could very easily describe it as a type of prison. Listen to the words with this in mind and you come up with a very different picture of what he was going through.
    Flag headshakeron February 21, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i love johnny cash
    downloadnarmafzar.com/downloads/…-(انا-مظلوم-حسين).html
    Flag siros123456on February 15, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is a song he wrote in the Air Fprce in Germany while he was trying to get his band together and get some good songs to play when he was on the radio.this song ended up being the song that the played to make his first record as first he was trying to play some old gospel song
    Flag FISH_WEST_COASTon July 17, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I've never been in a prison, but I can relate.
    Flag Bortherman_711on July 10, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." =)
    Flag sailingallaloneon December 06, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is deffinatly one of the BEST johnny cash songs EVER
    Flag ovrwrkd&undrpaidon October 04, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:THe majority of people miss the meaning of this song. It not just about a killer, who is tough, and wants to get out of prison.

    Its about a person who did something wrong, it could be anything. He didnt listen to what people told him (What his mother told him). And now he is suffering for doing that.
    He wishes he was like the people who didnt do anything wrong, the poeple that are enjoying life. (They're prob'ly drinkin' coffee and smokin' big cigars)

    He knows that, even though he wants to be free, he never will be free from his emotional prison. (I know i can be free)

    But he dreams about a time that he could do better, and be far away from his 'prison. (Far from folsom prison)

    And when he gets that, the train will make him happy instead of sad.


    This isnt about some hard-core gangsta, who is tough and can kill a guy. Its about a deep person, who is sad about what he did.(I hang my head and cry) And he wants to take it back, and start a real life.
    Flag JDevon August 30, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Although I do see where youre all coming fro with the prisoner having one escape and that is through music, I also think he is driven by his hatred for the rich and powerful who continue making it no matter what they do..."But those people keep a movin', and that's what tortures me"
    Flag Lover03on April 23, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Boo Urns said:

    "One thing though: if you shoot a man in Reno, you won't go to Folsom Prison because Folsom is California and Reno is in Nevada. That's the one thing that doesn't make sense to me...."

    others echoed this.

    but, actually, you can be sent to prison in one state for crimes committed in another state:

    "Charles Harrelson was transferred to Supermax [in Denver], the highest-security federal prison, after attempting to break out of an Atlanta federal prison in 1995. Other inmates at Supermax, about 90 miles south of Denver, include Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bombing coconspirator Terry Nichols and Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph."

    this is from an article "Woody Harrelson's dad dies doing 2 life terms," LA TIMES 3/21/07 (latimes.com/entertainment/news/…) (Harrelson committed crimes in Texas for which he was in an Atlanta prison; after trying to escape, he then was sent to Denver prison)

    also, as another example, Al Capone was in prison at Alcatraz (California) for crimes committed elsewhere (Chicago) (see, for example, 1010wins.com/pages/…)
    Flag free333on March 21, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Songs like this are why Johnny Cash will live forever
    Flag Berrieon February 05, 2007   Link

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