I fell in to a burning ring of birthdays

Had he not gone to join wife June earlier in the decade, Johnny Cash would be 77 years old today, and I wager that he’d be the coolest 77 year old around. Today’s quote of the day on my calendar of great rock quotes is attributed to the posthumous birthday boy:

“I followed trails and slept under mesquite bushes and in gullies… I learned to throw a bowie knife and kill a jackrabbit at 40 yards… Sometimes I might have gone a little too far, not such an uncommon trait in a person on amphetamines.”

I’m sure Johnny meant this as a ‘just say no’ speech, but has anyone ever made drug abuse sound more sinisterly manly? Cash oozed badassedness…

Aside from being an enemy to the jackrabbit, and a friend to country music fans the world over, in his later years Cash also collaborated with a couple of The Dance’s favorite artists, U2 and Nine Inch Nails. Here’s Johnny performing his cover of a Reznor masterpiece.