Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson Put Johnny Cash’s Poetry to Music

Johnny Cash PoemsKris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson join forces to pay tribute to their late friend and former collaborator Johnny Cash.  In “Forever Words / I Still Miss Someone,” Kristofferson and Nelson take a final poem written by Johnny Cash and put it to music.

Cash’s son John Carter Cash explained to Rolling Stone that after his father died in 2003, they found a folder of letters and poems.  Johnny Cash wrote the letters and poems in his old age after the death of his wife June Carter Cash.

Among the sad poems was one called “Forever.”  The poem is about life going on and recognizing that “the trees that I planted are still young.”  Kristofferson and Nelson took the poem to create “Forever Words / I Still Miss Someone.”

The track features Kristofferson’s reading of the poem and Nelson’s guitar.  In addition, they added an instrumental track from Cash’s 1958 song “I Still Miss Someone.”

The video below shows Kristofferson and Nelson on the track.  And it also includes them talking about their deceased friend and former Highwayman colleague.  Check it out.

“Forever Words / I Still Miss Someone” is the lead track on the upcoming album Johnny Cash: Forever Words. The album features Cash’s poetry interpreted musically by friends, family, and other artists, such as John Mellencamp, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Chris Cornell, Alison Krauss, Carlene Carter, The Jayhawks, and Brad Paisley.

Forever Words hits stores and the Internet on April 6, 2018. An accompanying book, Forever Words: The Unknown Poems, has also been released.


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