Lyrics

THE GHOST OF JOHNNY CASH

I walked through the gates of San Quentin with my world in a paper sack
With nothing to my name but a heart of stone and the shirt on my back
I'd just done seven years for a crime I didn't commit
They say that life ain't always fair but man sometimes it just won't quit
And the only thing that kept me sane from the first day to the last
Was a copy of Gideon's Bible and an autographed photo of Johnny Cash
Well I walked on down that lonely street as the night consumed the day
And I thought about the man that I had been before the system took it all away
I didn't know where I was going; I didn't know what to do
The only thing I knew for sure was that I really didn't have a clue
Then a light shone down from heaven and thunder shook the street
And a big, black Harley appeared before me as a voice began to speak
It said, "Take that which I've provided you, and carry on your way
I'll show you which road to take, if you trust me and obey"
Well I stood there shocked in disbelief; I thought I must be confused
Then I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, I thought what have I got to lose
So I threw my leg over that big two wheeler and I brought my boot down hard
She exploded like a thunder crack, like a supernova star
Then I found my seat in that leather saddle like some long, lost Jesse James
It was lined with chrome plated steel studs and the engine was shootin’ flames
And we took flight down that desert highway; I swear we were catching air
And the moon hung low over the Los Colinas, and that's when I saw him there
He rose from the desert like a gothic soul, like a statue carved from stone
His outstretched arms cast a haunting shadow, his face an eerie glow
And one hand held a vial of pills, the other a holy book
Around his neck hung a silver cross and when he spoke the valley shook
He said, "Well I've just fought one heck of a fight
And they could have killed me and I thought they might
But it's the power in this book that kept me strong
And for every little friend I took, there were ten more waiting with a pleading look
And it's these words that were there all along"
Then he took the cross from around his neck and he laid it on a granite ledge
He got down on one knee and he slowly bowed his head
And when I looked up the man was gone, like a vapor he'd disappeared
And as the moon sank below the Los Colinas, in the distance I swear I could hear
The sound of a freight train rolling and that mournful whistle whine
And a faraway, baritone voice sing out, "Take her a little farther down the line"
Well I got back on that big, old hog and I headed straight for town
And I thought about that ghostly man in black and that lonesome whistle sound
And I shot on up the valley across some abandoned railroad tracks
It was then that I realized I'd just seen the ghost of Johnny Cash
It was the ghost of Johnny Cash

And he walked the line as best he could though he sometimes lost his way
And the demons he was fighting fought him till his dying day
And if it wasn't for the love of God and that woman by his side
He may very well have wound up beyond the great divide

Well I stopped for the night beside a slow moving river underneath a wooden bridge
And I thought about all that the years had taken, about my wife and my precious kids
And I stared at that worn out photograph and I started to count the cost
Then I opened up Gideon's Bible and out fell a tarnished, silver cross
Well the next thing I remembered, the desert sun was in my eyes
I shook off the chill, as I climbed the hill to where I'd left my Harley ride
And that big, black bike I'd ridden in on was nowhere to be seen
I couldn't find a single sign that it had ever been
So I started walking down that long, white line, I knew my time was coming fast
'Cause I'd seen the light, in the desert that night, in the ghost of Johnny Cash
The ghost of Johnny Cash

And he walked the line as best he could though he sometimes lost his way
And the demons he was fighting fought him till his dying day
And if it wasn't for the love of God and that woman by his side
He may very well have wound up beyond the great divide