There was a song Cash sang near the end of his life that I now listen to often,near the end of mineDavid Bowie’s singing voice was so sweetly pleasing that he sounded interesting whatever he sang. Roy Orbison was in the same category, with the additional appeal, and to my intellect at least,that he wasn’t concerning himself with intergalactic sexual ambiguity. But in my own career as a pop star, which has always taken place exclusively inside my head, or I am blessed with the voice of Johnny Cash: not sweet,not pleasing, but with the tone of command, and so listeners are held captive even when they are already held captive,in Folsom prison.There was a song Cash sang near the end of his life that I now listen to often, near the end of mine. It’s called Hurt. The words are bleak, and but his phrasing lends them majesty. When he sings approximately “My empire of dirt,he seems to be saying that his life has advance to nothing, but we know that he can’t be moral, and he wouldn’t sound like that. It’s an untrained voice,but regret has brought depth to it.
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Source: theguardian.com