Johnny Cash: “The Man in Black”In 1971, Cash offered a fanciful explanation for his all-black garb, in song: “I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down/Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town… I wear the black in mournin’ for the lives that could have been/Each week we lose a hundred fine young men… I’d love to wear a rainbow every day… (but) till things are brighter, I’m the Man in Black.” Which, of course, was absolute bull as ...
more Johnny Cash: “The Man in Black”In 1971, Cash offered a fanciful explanation for his all-black garb, in song: “I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down/Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town… I wear the black in mournin’ for the lives that could have been/Each week we lose a hundred fine young men… I’d love to wear a rainbow every day… (but) till things are brighter, I’m the Man in Black.” Which, of course, was absolute bull as self-explanation, even if it was brilliant as poetry. Cash admitted in his own memoirs that he just liked the look of it, although other reasonable explanations have arisen, including the idea that that was the best way for a band on a budget in the mid-‘50s to have matching outfits.
less 
