The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash

The title says it all : Armageddon!

And I heard as it were the noise of thunder
One of the four beasts saying come and see and I saw
And behold a white horse


There's a Man going around taking names
And He decides who to free and who to blame
Everybody won't be treated all the same
There'll be a golden ladder reaching down
When the Man comes around


The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and in each sup
Will you partake of that last offered cup?
Or disappear into the potter's ground
When the Man comes around

Chorus

#Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling, voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come


And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks#

STANZA 2

Till Armageddon no shalam, no shalom
Then the father hen will call his chickens home
The wise man will bow down before the throne
And at His feet they'll cast their golden crowns
When the Man comes around


Whoever is unjust let him be unjust still
Whoever is righteous let him be righteous still
Whoever is filthy let him be filthy still
Listen to the words long written down
When the Man comes around

CHORUS

In measured hundred weight and penny pound
When the Man comes around.

Close (Spoken part)
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts
And I looked and behold, a pale horse
And his name that sat on him was Death
And Hell followed with him.

Johnny Cash is one of the few phenomenal American classical country singers. He is popular for having a knack for combining the elements of country, gospel and rock and roll in his songs. In this one, The Man Comes Around, has predominantly Abrahamic undertones as it talks about Armageddon.

This song is one of my favorites because it has a religious theme to it. Even though he is Christian, in this song when he sings about the day of Judgment, Johnny Cash does not use any Biblical terms. If we look at the song's lyrics, Jesus Christ is not mentioned anywhere. Johnny Cash refers to God as the Man, and while in Islam we do not associate Allah SWT with anyone or anything, out of the sake language we always refer to Allah by the male pronoun and in capital letters. It must be understood that Johnny Cash used the term Man not to attribute a human quality to God; capitalizing the term separates it from being used in a more general context. Precisely because of his choice of words, as a Muslim I am still able to relate to the message of the song.



More importantly, this song has a very good message. In the first stanza, the singer says that "There'll be a Man going around taking names, And He decides who to free and who to blame." As with the Christians and the Jews, we Muslims too believe in the day of Judgement. We too believe that only God has the sole right to judge all of mankind for their sins and deeds. This line is a reminder to me and others everyone will be taken into account, and their actions will all be brought to judgement. It is a good reminder; we are all living towards the End of Times, and it would be good if we took note of this. After all, we all "won't be treated the same" and will face our judgement as God sees fit.

In the second stanza, the singer talks about how all humans, whoever they were on Earth, will be on the same level on the day of Judgement. It doesn't matter if you were smart or dumb, or whether you had titles or fame, because:

The wise man will bow down before the throne
And at His feet they'll cast their golden crowns
When the Man comes around

This is the same thing that I believe in as a Muslim. When the world ends, all that humanity makes for itself will be nothing but ashes. All that will be left for us is our deeds and our sins. Who we acted or pretended to be in life will not be the criteria for our judgement. God doesn't care if we were politicians, rich or poor. We will all be judged for what we have done.

Overall, Johnny Cash has combined his excellent style and genre with a good message. People of different faiths, be it the Jew, the Christian or the Muslim, should definitely give this song a try.

Give your thoughts and opinions down below! Happy to read them!

Thanks for reading people, Nik Rashid, signing off.

Johnny Cash in his younger years.