Thom Zimny Archives - chimesfreedom

YouTube Originals has produced a documentary about Johnny Cash called, The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash (2019). Director Thom Zimny — who also made Elvis Presley: The Searcher and Springsteen on Broadway, tells the story of the Man in Black. The title is inspired for a term Cash’s mother used to describe Cash’s voice, “the gift.”

With cooperation from Cash’s estate, Zimny uses archival footage, home movies, and audio interviews to help tell the story. The film focuses on major invents in Cash’s life, such as the death of his brother as a child and the singer’s Folsom Prison concert.

The documentary is currently streaming for free on YouTube. Check it out in its entirety below.

What do you think of The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash? Leave your two cents in the comments.

Clarence Ashley: “The Cuckoo” & “Little Sadie”

Rosanne Cash Takes a Stand With “Crawl Into the Promised Land”

Louis Armstrong and Jimmie Rodgers: “Blue Yodel 9” (Duet of the Day)

Sheryl Crow & Johnny Cash: “Redemption Day”

Burl Ives & Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash’s Concerts at San Quentin

( Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Buy from Amazon

This week, Bruce Springsteen released the short film (i.e., long music video) by him and Thom Zimny for “Hunter of Invisible Game,” a song off Springsteen’s most recent album, High Hopes (2014). The video is set in a post-apocalyptic world, with the Springsteen character remembering better times with his family while travelling through the woods. The video seems inspired by shows like The Walking Dead (without the zombies). But as Rolling Stone reports, the song “Hunter of Invisible Game” came from Springsteen reading some post-apocalyptic literature. Springsteen, who says that the song is one of his favorites on the album, explained, “The idea of these travellers in the wasteland, and what’s the guy trying to do? He’s trying to hold onto their humanness, their humanity in all of this ruin.”

Until I saw the video, I had not connected the song to a post-apocalyptic world, but the lyrics do make sense now that I have seen the video: “There were empty cities and burnin’ plains.” Despite the desolation of much of the song, Springsteen still offers some hope at the end.

When the hour of deliverance comes on us all,
When our hope and faith and courage and trust
Can rise or vanish like dust into dust,
There’s a kingdom of love waiting to be reclaimed;
I am the hunter of invisible game.

The short film premiered on Springsteen’s website, which also features some behind-the-scenes photos, and now you may watch the film below. As Blogness on the Edge of Town points out, the film features some cool introductory music before it gets to the song. Check it out.