"I Walk the Line" is a song written and recorded in 1956 by Johnny Cash. After three attempts with moderate chart ratings, it became Cash's first #1 hit on the Billboard country chart, eventually reaching #17 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The unique chord progression for "I Walk the Line" was inspired by the backwards playback of guitar runs on Cash's tape recorder[4] while he was stationed in Germany as a member of the United States Air Force. Later in a telephone interview, Cash stated, "I wrote the song backstage one night in 1956 in Gladewater, Texas. I was newly married at the time, and I suppose I was laying out my pledge of devotion."[5] After writing the song, Cash had a discussion with fellow performer Carl Perkins, who encouraged him to adopt "I Walk the Line" as the song title. Cash originally intended the song to be a slow ballad, but producer Sam Phillips preferred a faster arrangement;[6] in the end, Cash agreed to the change, and the uptempo recording met with success.
On one occasion, while performing "I Walk the Line" on his TV show, Cash explained to the audience the reason for his humming during the song: "People ask me why I always hum whenever I sing this song. It's to get my pitch." The humming was necessary since the song required Cash to change keys several times while singing it.
The song's lyrics discuss resisting temptation, being accountable, and remaining faithful to Vivian Liberto during his first marriage.[7] However, Johnny and Vivian divorced, and he married June Carter. Liberto would write a book called I Walked the Line about her time with Cash.[8]
"I Walk the Line" was originally recorded at Sun Studio on April 2, 1956, and was released on May 1. It spent six weeks at the top spot on the U.S. country Juke Box charts that summer, one week on the C&W Jockey charts and number two on the C&W Best Seller charts.[9] "I Walk the Line" crossed over and reached #19 on the pop music charts.[10]
The song was performed with the help of Marshall Grant and Luther Perkins, two mechanics who were introduced to Cash by his older brother Roy after Cash was discharged from the Air Force. Cash and his wife, Vivian, were living in Memphis, Tennessee, at the time. Cash became the front man for the group and precipitated their introduction to Sam Phillips of Sun Records. In 1955, they began recording under the Sun label.
It was re-recorded four times during Cash's career: in 1964 for the I Walk the Line album, again in 1969 for the At San Quentin album (a live performance), in 1970 for the I Walk the Line soundtrack, and finally in 1988 for the Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series album. Additional live performances have been released since Cash's death, along with a demo version recorded prior to the formal 1956 recording session that was released on Bootleg Vol. II: From Memphis to Hollywood (Columbia/Legacy) in 2011.
The song is very simple and like most Cash songs, the lyrics tell more of a story than the music conveys. (You've got a way to keep me on your side/You give me cause for love that I can't hide/For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide).
It is based upon the "boom-chicka-boom" or "freight train" rhythm common in many of Cash's songs. In the original recording of the song, there is a key change between each of the five verses, and Cash hums the new root note before singing each verse. The final verse, a reprise of the first, is sung a full octave lower than the first verse, the root note lowered from F3 down to F2.
When performing this song in recording, and in later live and television appearances, Cash would place a piece of paper under the strings of his guitar towards the tuning end. As he explained during a 1990s appearance on The Nashville Network, he did this in order to simulate the sound of a snare drum, an instrument to which he did not have access during the original Sun session.
Johnny, with the Temptations outside his door and a new wife at home, wanted the lyrics to say, "I'm going to be true to those who believe in me and depend on me to myself and God. Something like I’m still being true, or I’m 'Walking The Line.' The lyrics came as fast as I could write," says Johnny. "In 50 minutes, I had it finished."[11]
Cash's former son-in-law Rodney Crowell adapted the song to a new melody and in 1998 recorded his version as a duet with Cash. This version was titled "I Walk the Line Revisited" and peaked at No. 61 on the country music charts.[17] The song later appeared on Crowell's 2001 album The Houston Kid. (The cover does not utilize the original melody of the song, instead lyrics from the song, sung by Cash to a different melody, are incorporated into a new song by Crowell.)
In 2014, Craig Wayne Boyd covered this song during season 7 of The Voice. The cover reached the Top 15 on the iTunes US Country charts.[18]
Tapio Rautavaara made a Finnish-language version of the song, called "Yölinjalla" (‘On the night line’). The Finnish lyrics tell about the hard life of truck drivers, who often had to drive through the night. The melody was originally credited as Rautavaara's own composition but this was revised in 2008.[19]
Halsey recorded a cover that appeared on the deluxe version of her 2015 album Badlands as well as the trailer for the 2017 film Power Rangers.[20]
^"Johnny then in the Air Force, discovered that his buddies had borrowed his reel-to-reel tape recorder. When he turned it on, he heard a haunting, organ-like sound. In Truth, it was guitar runs recorded with a tape running one direction and played back in the other ..." Johnny Cash, I Walk The Line - Through the eyes of a fan
^Horstman, Dorothy (1976). Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy, Country Music Foundation. p. 144.
^Grant, Marshall (2006). I Was There When It Happened: My Life With Johnny Cash, Cumberland House Publishing. p. 54.
