Brandi Carlile - "Folsom Prison Blues"

I hear the train a comin'

It's rolling round the bend

And I ain't seen the sunshine since

I don't know when

I'm stuck in Folsom prison

And time keeps draggin' on

But that train keeps a rollin’

On down to San Anton.

When I was just a baby

My mama told me: Son

Always be a good boy,

don't ever play with guns

But I shot a man in Reno

Just to watch him die

When I hear that whistle blowing

I hang my head and cry.

I bet there's rich folks eating

In a fancy dining car

They're probally drinkin' coffee

And smoking big cigars

Well, I know I had it coming

I know I can't be free

But those people keep a-movin'.

And that's what tortures me.

Well, if they'd free me from this prison

If that railroad train was mine

I bet I'd move it over a little further down the line

Far from Folsom prison

That's where I want to stay

And I'd let that lonesome whistle

Blow my blues away.

      Cash was inspired to write this song after seeing the movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951) while serving in West Germany in the United States Air Force at Landsberg, Bavaria (itself the location of a famous prison). Cash recounted how he came up with the line "But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die": "I sat with my pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have for killing another person, and that's what came to mind." Cash took the melody for the song and many of the lyrics from Gordon Jenkins's 1953 Seven Dreams concept album, specifically the song "Crescent City Blues".