Johnny Cash Memorial Concert.

The other night on TV, I watched a re-run of the “Johnny Cash Memorial Concert.” I had seen bits of it before, but last night in its entirety. Although some did good renditions of His hits, some didn’t, in my personal opinion. Many tried to imitate him, others even to emulate him and yet others to give their own interpretation. Yet I still couldn’t help feeling that few, if any, improved on the original. Which I then thought was even stranger when you realize that many of Johnny’s hits were not even original to him. At least one version last night was done by the original singer/songwriter.

Johnny was a reasonable but not prolific songwriter. He was a reasonable but not great singer, yet despite these limits he succeeded for over half a century, where better singers and songwriters have not had his success or impact on people. Why do you think this is so?

I think it is because he used what he had to the best of his opportunities and when he took a song, even if it wasn’t his when he started, it was when he finished. He made that song his. He made you think that not only did he write it, but also he lived every letter in every word of every line of that song. That was his brilliance! Making it live in his interpretation.

What about you? Do you Live it, or just act it? When you say or do something, do you make it your own and live it? Or are you an actor, and just go through life giving different performances for different audiences?

I am not being humble or modest here when I say I couldn’t sing to save my life. I really can’t, so I can’t emulate Johnny Cash in music, but in life I can; and so can you.

We may not be great innovators of new ideas but we can take the best of others and make them our own. Are you going to me known as an imitator or one who took the best that life had to offer and made it your own? Whether others in turn imitate or ignore you? Over to you. Walter