Pop: Lyric Sheets: The Man in Black

Johnny Cash is playing at the Albert Hall tonight

With a face in need of ironing

And a quaver in his voice

The demeanour of a gunslinger

Who spares your life by choice

His appeal is in the wisdom

Of the worldly wounded sage

And he's the man in black up on the stage

With a vintage shared by Elvis

Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee

From a rockabilly label

Based in Memphis, Tennessee

If he'd only got one deal

He'd have had the crucial one

Cos he's the man in black who signed to Sun

The sound of his guitar-work

Far as anyone can tell

Is a kind of Travis-pickin'

Which is bastardised to hell

If you think you heard it somewhere

Then you wouldn't be far wrong

Cos he's the man in black who wrote the song

There's the song about the car

And the song about the water

But there isn't one about the fact

That Nick Lowe wed his daughter

Never mind, he's worked with everyone

Dylan and the rest

And he's the man in black who came out best

Johnny Cash: He's very noir, you know