The Man Comes Around (song)

"The Man Comes Around" is the title track from Johnny Cash's "", released in 2002 (see 2002 in music). It is one of the last songs Cash wrote in his life.

Only three of the fifteen tracks on this album were actually written by Cash; "The Man Comes Around" is the only one that Cash wrote for the album. It is partially sung and partially spoken, containing numerous Biblical references, predominantly from the Book of Revelation. The song never names "the man" who will come around, though the obvious inference would be the second coming of Jesus Christ. According to the song, when the man comes around, there will be judgment for some and salvation for others. A series of images depict the horror and confusion of that judgment day.

Identifying the symbols and references in the lyrics

The song is introduced by a spoken portion from Revelation 6:1-2 in the King James Version. This portion of Scripture describes the coming of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, each heralded by one of the "four beasts" first mentioned in Revelation 4:6-9. The first horseman rides a white horse. The musical portion then begins with Cash reciting that a man, presumably Jesus, will one day come to pass judgment. The chorus indicates that these events will be accompanied by trumpets, pipers, and "one hundred million angels singing".

The line "There'll be a golden ladder reaching down." references to Jacob's dream of a ladder or stairwell (Jacob's ladder) from earth to heaven (Genesis 28:12) and God's subsequent blessing of Jacob in Genesis 28:12 (King James Version).

"It's Alpha and Omega's Kingdom come" is a Reference to the book of Revelation. Jesus Christ refers to himself as "the Alpha and the Omega" in Revelation (1:8; 21:6; 22:13). Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, hence Christ is the beginning and the end.

The lines "Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still. Whoever is righteous, let him be righteous still. Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still." is another reference to the book of Revelation (22:11).

The chorus also repeats the point that "the whirlwind is in the thorn tree". This reference is explained in Cash's 1997 autobiography with Patrick Carr, "Cash" (HarperCollins). He writes that Queen Elizabeth II (whose coronation Cash witnessed while he was a serving US Airman) appeared to him in a dream and said "Johnny Cash, you're a thorn bush in a whirlwind". Cash later found the same reference in the Book of Revelation, and was inspired to write thirty-three verses of what would become "The Man Comes Around".

In the line, "Till Armageddon, no Shalam, no Shalom," Armageddon refers to the climactic battle between good and evil in Revelation 16:16. Shalom means "peace" in Hebrew. Shalam might reference Salaam, meaning "peace" in Arabic, but could more likely refer to "Shalam" the equivalent word in Aramaic language spoken by Judean contemporaries of Jesus (and as Syriac language by Iraqi Assyrian Christians today).

One line says "The virgins are all trimming their wicks." This refers to a parable told by Jesus in Matthew 25:7. The women who were "trimming their wicks" were ready for Jesus' return. Some other women were not as conscientious and missed out on the celebration.

The line "It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks" is from Acts 26:14 (King James Version). The apostle Paul is referring to the time when he was knocked to the ground by a voice from heaven. Acts 26:14 reads, "And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." The Weymouth New Testament in Modern Speech here reads, "You are finding it painful to kick against the ox-goad." Saul was resisting the Christian course of life and was now being punished by Jesus, an appropriate story reference within the Judgment Day context of "The Man Comes Around."

Cash then returns to spoken form, ending the song with a quotation from Revelation 6:6, 8 (just a few verses after the verses he quoted at the beginning of the song)::"And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts...":"And I looked and behold, a pale horse":"And his name that sat on him was Death":"And Hell followed with him"

The pale horse is the fourth horse, introduced by the fourth beast. Recall that the first of the four horses was referred to in the spoken portion at the beginning of the song.

Interestingly, the phrase "There's a man going around taking names" which begins the song is not a Bible reference, but refers to a song by that name popularised by the folk singer Lead Belly.

Music

The arrangement of the song is sparse; two guitars, left hand piano, and an electric organ.

History

An alternate "early take" of the song appears on the "Unearthed" box set (2003) and "The Legend of Johnny Cash" (2005).

Usage in other media

This song was used during the opening credits of the 2004 re-imagining of George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" as well as the credits for the film "The Hunted". The song was also used in Gordon Ramsay's television series Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

In 2008, the song was featured prominently in the final scenes of the of "" and in an episode of "Criminal Minds"

In 2008, the song was featured in the closing scenes of the HBO miniseries "Generation Kill". The characters are watching videos shot by a marine which recap their experience in Iraq as the song plays in the background.

In 2008, the song was also featured in "My Best Friend's Girl".

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