My feelings for Johnny Cash have gone far beyond simple appreciation for his work. I think the man has done more than what any one person can aspire to. He's known as a musician but he's done so much and accomplished so many things, it wouldn't be fair to use just one label.

My mother was a fan of Johnny Cash. She played his records on Sundays when there was nothing else to do. His music was the background to Sunday mornings when we dashed off our church clothes to put on play clothes and listen to at breakfast. I relegated him to music that only my parents listened to and, therefore, not anyone I'd consider myself a fan of.

As I grew and my music tastes broadened I pulled out my mother's old records and grew an appreciation for his music. He had a voice that was impossible to duplicate. It was weathered and sounded like a man at his lowest. I could hear the same thing when I stood alone in the forest and listened to the wind through the branches. It sounded supernatural. It was ghostly and it caught my attention. This man had secrets and knew things I could never know. His songs were stories and you knew, just from how he sang, that he really felt each one. Behind each song you knew there was something more, some secret he was keeping. He identified with every person ever down on his luck with no way out. There have been many times I felt that and needed that. It’s rare that you ever feel such an emotional response to music today but Johnny did that to me a lot. He’s been through so much more than I ever have or will. He’s a mountain.

He wasn't my generation, he was old. He didn't do drugs or screw around. He seemed tame compared to all the bands I listened to. He never yelled because he didn't have to. His voice carried weight. Each carefully spoken word echoed. When I felt like I first understood Johnny Cash I felt like I was uncovering a lost nuclear bomb. This guy had done it. He had been so far, been through so much and not only made it out but caused some damage on the way.

He should have been made president. He symbolized everything this country is about. His life mirrors the rise of America. He was everything this country had ever hoped to be. Born dirt poor, in some of the worst poverty in this country's history he endured. As his family starved and mourned the violent death of a brother he adored, he went out to make his own life with nothing to his name.

Throughout it all he remained who he was. He was always an amalgam of good and evil. He didn't lie but lost himself in drug addiction. He had been lost so many times; critics wrote him off, his family left him, his fans, even himself but he persevered.

He outsold the Beatles and went against public opinion, addressing the Vietnam war and those who fought in it, though it rankled his stalwart fans. When Bob Dylan was criticized for going electric, he was the first person to take his side. From that he earned a lifelong friendship. He helped other musicians on their way up, guarding them from the dangers he had faced. During the war he played in Vietnam to entertain the troops and helped farmers losing their land. When Richard Nixon invited him to play at the White House and requested Okie From Muskogee and Welfare Cadillac, he refused and instead played What is Truth, Man in Black and The Ballad of Ira Hayes, songs that weren't as pointed as the President's requests. He was the epitome of the American dream, coming from nothing, facing incredible odds, suffering and rising above. Each song told that story. Everyone, from prisoners to preachers, sock hopping teens to emo punks, could feel that. I wonder if he ever knew how far his music would go and how it would be heard.

I don't think this country would be the same without him. He was everything it aspires to be; hard working, tired, broken but honest. His feet walked every road and played every corner of every state. He met presidents and played with Elvis. He attempted suicide and cursed at police. No one could ever replace him. His type vanished long before he did.