Kaylie LeCuru
March 30, 2018
Mr. Burrell
Word Count: 1055
“God’s Gonna Cut You Down” Lyric Analysis Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” is a song about God bringing justice to those who have not followed His will. The song displays the judgement of God upon those who are sinners and are offenders of the commandments. Johnny Cash sings this song as a message to those who believe God’s will can be ignored, and by doing so is spreading the message that our actions are seen by God and he will act accordingly. Throughout the song, Cash used many different techniques that help him display a certain message. Though “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” is a classified as a song, it approaches poetry through its memorable anaphora and repetition that …show more content…
He does this in many different parts, but one that stands out is in the lines “Go tell that long tongue liar / Go and tell that midnight rider” (6-7) which helps the reader understand the importance of this message and the urgency that God is giving to the listener to spread His message. Cash repeats these lines many times throughout the poem as well which also helps the reader understand the importance of this message. Johnny Cash also uses repetition many times throughout this poem which gives it the tone that Cash was looking for. One example of this would be that Cash says “Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down / Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down” (9-10). This emphasizes God insisting that the listener follow His message and those who do not will get in return what they have given. Cash also uses repetition in the lines as follows: Run on for a long …show more content…
The lines “He spoke to me in the voice so sweet / I thought I heard the shuffle of angel’s feet” (14-15) allow the listener to imagine what the voice of God sounded like and just how majestic it must have been to feel as if Cash could hear angel’s feet. This gives the listener reason to believe this is a true message from God due to the descriptive imagery and word choice. Another reason these lines are so important is because of the first-person example that Cash gives. By using “I” in the song, the listener comes to believe that the singer had these events happen to them. The song also displays the use of “you” which is pushing the listener to go out and do something or trying to persuade them. This makes the song more dramatic and gives very assertive directions for the audience. The listener may feel as though it is now their duty to follow through with these commands due to the direction and emotion in the
March 30, 2018
Mr. Burrell
Word Count: 1055
“God’s Gonna Cut You Down” Lyric Analysis Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” is a song about God bringing justice to those who have not followed His will. The song displays the judgement of God upon those who are sinners and are offenders of the commandments. Johnny Cash sings this song as a message to those who believe God’s will can be ignored, and by doing so is spreading the message that our actions are seen by God and he will act accordingly. Throughout the song, Cash used many different techniques that help him display a certain message. Though “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” is a classified as a song, it approaches poetry through its memorable anaphora and repetition that …show more content…
He does this in many different parts, but one that stands out is in the lines “Go tell that long tongue liar / Go and tell that midnight rider” (6-7) which helps the reader understand the importance of this message and the urgency that God is giving to the listener to spread His message. Cash repeats these lines many times throughout the poem as well which also helps the reader understand the importance of this message. Johnny Cash also uses repetition many times throughout this poem which gives it the tone that Cash was looking for. One example of this would be that Cash says “Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down / Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down” (9-10). This emphasizes God insisting that the listener follow His message and those who do not will get in return what they have given. Cash also uses repetition in the lines as follows: Run on for a long …show more content…
The lines “He spoke to me in the voice so sweet / I thought I heard the shuffle of angel’s feet” (14-15) allow the listener to imagine what the voice of God sounded like and just how majestic it must have been to feel as if Cash could hear angel’s feet. This gives the listener reason to believe this is a true message from God due to the descriptive imagery and word choice. Another reason these lines are so important is because of the first-person example that Cash gives. By using “I” in the song, the listener comes to believe that the singer had these events happen to them. The song also displays the use of “you” which is pushing the listener to go out and do something or trying to persuade them. This makes the song more dramatic and gives very assertive directions for the audience. The listener may feel as though it is now their duty to follow through with these commands due to the direction and emotion in the