The Meaning Behind “The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash

Folks know the American Recordings albums that topped off Johnny Cash’s incredible career for his renditions of works by some of the greatest songwriters of the rock era. Yet Cash never stopped writing his own material. And he rose to the occasion one more time with “The Man Comes Around.” It appears on the last of the American albums he released while he was alive.

It’s a song full of portent and mystery, one that likely sent fans scrambling to figure out the Biblical allusions that fill the lyrics. What exactly is Johnny Cash trying to say in “The Man Comes Around?” And why was this song a little bit different from the others he wrote throughout his career? Let’s take a look back to get the story.

The Final Album

Johnny Cash recorded American IV: The Man Comes Around throughout 2002. The album’s release met with universal acclaim in November of that year. He passed away a little more than 10 months later. So to say his last living album allowed him to go out on top would be a massive understatement.

American IV was the culmination of the approach Cash had been taking with producer Rick Rubin for his American Recordings series since 1994. While they packed the previous three albums with amazing material as well, IV took it to another level. Cash took on a stunning collection of beloved evergreens on the record. (If you wanted to make a playlist of the greatest English-language music for an extraterrestrial, songs like “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “In My Life,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Desperado”, “Wichita Lineman,” “Danny Boy,” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” all tackled here by Cash, would be a pretty good start.)

Most of the immediate acclaim for the record came from his chilling version of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt,” just one more example of the lineup on this album. Which is why it’s so impressive that the one song that cash wrote specifically for IV, the opening, title track “The Man Comes Around,” can go toe-to-toe with anything else on there.

[RELATED: 10 Iconic Moments From Johnny Cash’s Career]

Cash’s Inspiration

In 2002, Cash gave American Songwriter an extended interview, which let us in on some of the secrets to his songwriting success. It’s a fascinating conversation. He speaks about his aversion to big hook lines, his need to have a title in place before he can write any song, and his belief that the three-chord ballad that exemplified the earliest country music was still the genre’s best weapon. He also said he generally wrote songs quickly. However, a new song he had just completed had been an exception. That song was “The Man Comes Around.”

“It took me nine months to write it,” Cash said. “I wrote verse after verse, probably 25 or 30 verses, before I was satisfied with the verses I wanted to use in the song. It’s the first time I’ve ever overwritten a song, but I felt like it was necessary. The song was very special to me. It’s a spiritual about the second coming of Christ, about judgment day, the day of redemption.”

What Is “The Man Comes Around” About?

Cash’s knowledge of the Bible clearly comes into play throughout “The Man Comes Around,” with indirect allusions and direct references abounding. But it’s one thing to be able to recall these ancient verses. It’s another thing to be able to utilize them in a way that embellishes the meaning of the song. Even if you don’t exactly know where he unearthed these images of white horses and golden ladders, you can understand how they all fit into Cash’s message.

And what’s that message? That there will be a reckoning for everyone. Before he even gets to the Biblical callbacks, Cash spells it out in plainspoken fashion in the opening verse. There’s a man goin’ ‘round takin’ names / And he decides who to free and who to blame / Everybody won’t be treated all the same. 

It’s also telling Cash sets these ominous pronouncements to downright jaunty music. It’s as if the narrator has accepted the grand judgment that’s coming. He’s reveling in letting everyone else who’s running from it know they’re doing so in vain. It’s why his inclusion of the Biblical quotes concerning the unjust, righteous, and filthy remaining as they are is so crucial. He’s saying that it’s way too late for them to change now.

In Cash’s hand, Judgment Day is an inevitability to be accepted, rather than an uncertainty to be feared. “The Man Comes Around” insists that the equation between what’s sown and what’s reaped is as it ever was. Listen to the words long written down, he bellows. When you’ve got someone repurposing those words with the authority and insight Johnny Cash displays here, how could we ignore them?

Photo by David Redfern/Redferns