Johnny Cash was known as the Man in Black and he made of career of singing country songs and ballads. He was very famous for the concerts he played in prisons in California and in the Swedish prison, Pa Osteraker. This is one of his more famous songs, which he wrote and recorded, and it is about being a prisoner in Folsom Prison. He describes the childhood of the person in the song as not being a good boy and not listening to his mothers commands. But mostly it describes what it was like to hear the train whistling by his cell. In the song he is a man who killed another man just to watch him die which is how he ended up at Folsom Prison. He dislikes the prison very much and it causes him great sadness and the final verses state that if he were to ever leave leave Folsom Prison he would move the train farther away so the prisoners do not have to be tormented by the thought of traveling when it will never happen. This was one of his most famous songs on one of his most famous albums, At Folsom Prison. This song is not only at the intersection of art and crime but art and life for Johnny Cash as he did spend a few nights in jail due to some indiscretions in his life.
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