I Walk the Line

"Walk the Line Remix"
Single by Laurent Wolf
from the album Harmony
Released	22 August 2009
Format	CD maxi, Digital download
Genre	House
Length	2:53
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Johnny Cash
Producer(s)	Laurent Wolf
Laurent Wolf singles chronology

"I Walk the Line"
Single by Johnny Cash
from the album With His Hot and Blue Guitar, Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous, Sings Hank Williams, and I Walk the Line
B-side	"Get Rhythm"
Released	May 1, 1956
Format	7-inch & 10-inch singles
Recorded	April 2, 1956, Sun Studio, Memphis, Tennessee
Genre	Country; rockabilly;
Length	2:45
Label	Sun
Songwriter(s)	Johnny Cash
Producer(s)	Sam Phillips
Johnny Cash singles chronology

"I Walk the Line" excerpt

From the album With His Hot and Blue Guitar (1957)

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"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 number one hit on the Billboard charts. It reached number 17 on the US pop charts. It remained on the record charts for over 43 weeks, and sold over 2 million copies.^[4] It has also been used on many LP's released from Sun Records, such as With His Hot and Blue Guitar, Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous, and Sings Hank Williams. It was the title song for a 1970 film starring Gregory Peck.

Background of the song[edit]

The unique chord progression for the song was inspired by backwards playback of guitar runs on Cash's tape recorder^[5] while he was in the Air Force stationed in Germany. 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."^[6] After the writing of 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 as a slow ballad, but producer Sam Phillips preferred a faster arrangement,^[7] which Cash grew to like as the uptempo recording met with success.

Once while performing the song on his TV show, Cash told the audience, with a smile, "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 refer to marital fidelity, personal responsibility, and avoiding temptation and criminal behavior.^[8]

The song 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 number 19 on the pop music charts.^[10]

It was performed with the help of Marshall Grant and Luther Perkins, two mechanics that his brother introduced him to following his discharge 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 the introduction of the group to Sam Phillips of Sun Records. In 1955, they began recording under the Sun label.

The song 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.

Writing and composition[edit]

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.

When performing this song on record, 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 20 minutes, I had it finished."^[11]

Legacy[edit]

The song is included in "The 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", a permanent exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[12]^[13] In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at No. 30 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[14] and also ranked it #1 on its list of the 100 greatest country songs of all time in June 2014.^[15]

Covers[edit]

Everly Brothers recorded the song in 1963 on their album The Everly Brothers Sing Great Country Hits.
Dolly Parton included a cover of the song on her 1984 album of covers The Great Pretender.
Glen Campbell recorded an infamously unreleased cover of the song. It was finally released in 1994 on his The Essential Glen Campbell Volume One album.
In 1998, Cash's former son-in-law Rodney Crowell covered the song as a duet with Cash on Crowell's album The Houston Kid. This version was titled "I Walk the Line Revisited" and peaked at No. 61 on the country music charts.^[16] 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.
Jaye P. Morgan covered the song in 1960, the single charting at No. 66.
In 2004, the American rock band Live released a cover on their greatest hits album Awake: The Best of Live.
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.^[17]
Frank Iero released their cover of this as part of his EP For Jamia.
In 2015, Halsey released her cover as part of the deluxe edition of her debut album Badlands. It appeared in the official teaser trailer for Power Rangers.
Tapio Rautavaara made a Finnish-language version of the song, called "Yölinjalla". The Finnish lyrics tell about the hard life of truck drivers. The melody was originally credited as Rautavaara's own composition but this was later revised.

Chart positions[edit]

Chart (1957)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[18]	1
US Billboard Hot 100^[19]	17

Laurent Wolf version[edit]

The song was covered by French house music DJ and producer Laurent Wolf and released in August 2009 as Walk the Line Remix.

Track listings[edit]

CD single
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Walk the Line" (Radio Edit Version)	2:53
2.	"Walk the Line" (Club Version)	6:59
3.	"No Stress" (Zen @ Acoustic)	7:35
4.	"Colombia"	5:06

Charts[edit]

Chart (2008-2009)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[20]	18
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)^[21]	23
France (SNEP)^[22]	8
Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[23]	83

References[edit]

^ "Johnny Cash And Tennessee Two* - Get Rhythm / I Walk The Line". Discogs. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
^ "I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash - Song Info - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
^ "Johnny Cash". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
^ Johnny Cash - Biography.” CMT.com. MTV Networks. Web. http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/cash_johnny/bio.jhtml%7C Retrieved on 2010-07-11
^ "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.
^ Winkler, Alice. "I Walk the Line." NPR. "All Things Considered." 14 Feb 2017 <https://www.npr.org/2000/12/23/1115971/npr-100-i-walk-the-line>
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 74.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 110.
^ ""I Walk the Line" - Reverse Speech". theopenscroll.com. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
^ Henke, James. "500 Songs That Shaped Rock" (pdf). Infoplease. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
^ "Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll: I Walk the Line". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. August 23, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
^ "100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 109. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
^ "Digital Downloads". roughstock.com. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
^ "Johnny Cash Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
^ "Johnny Cash Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
^ "Ultratop.be – Laurent Wolf – Walk the Line Remix" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
^ "Ultratop.be – Laurent Wolf – Walk the Line Remix" (in French). Ultratop 50.
^ "Lescharts.com – Laurent Wolf – Walk the Line Remix" (in French). Les classement single.
^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Laurent Wolf – Walk the Line Remix" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.

[1] "Johnny Cash And Tennessee Two* - Get Rhythm / I Walk The Line". Discogs. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

[2] "I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash - Song Info - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

[3] "Johnny Cash". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

[4] Johnny Cash - Biography.” CMT.com. MTV Networks. Web. http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/cash_johnny/bio.jhtml%7C Retrieved on 2010-07-11

[5] "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

[6] Horstman, Dorothy (1976). Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy, Country Music Foundation. p. 144.

[7] Grant, Marshall (2006). I Was There When It Happened: My Life With Johnny Cash, Cumberland House Publishing. p. 54.

[8] Winkler, Alice. "I Walk the Line." NPR. "All Things Considered." 14 Feb 2017 <https://www.npr.org/2000/12/23/1115971/npr-100-i-walk-the-line>

[9] Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 74.

[10] Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 110.

[11] ""I Walk the Line" - Reverse Speech". theopenscroll.com. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

[12] Henke, James. "500 Songs That Shaped Rock" (pdf). Infoplease. Retrieved October 12, 2016.

[13] "Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll: I Walk the Line". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. August 23, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.

[14] "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 2007-06-02.

[15] "100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

[whitburn-16] Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 109. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.

[17] "Digital Downloads". roughstock.com. Retrieved 27 December 2014.

[sc_Billboardcountrysongs_Johnny_Cash-18] "Johnny Cash Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.

[sc_Billboardhot100_Johnny_Cash-19] "Johnny Cash Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.

[sc_Flanders_Laurent_Wolf-20] "Ultratop.be – Laurent Wolf – Walk the Line Remix" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.

[sc_Wallonia_Laurent_Wolf-21] "Ultratop.be – Laurent Wolf – Walk the Line Remix" (in French). Ultratop 50.

[sc_France_Laurent_Wolf-22] "Lescharts.com – Laurent Wolf – Walk the Line Remix" (in French). Les classement single.

[sc_Dutch100_Laurent_Wolf-23] "Dutchcharts.nl – Laurent Wolf – Walk the Line Remix" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.

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v t e Johnny Cash
Studio albums	With His Hot and Blue Guitar Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous The Fabulous Johnny Cash Greatest! Songs of Our Soil Sings Hank Williams Now, There Was a Song! Now Here's Johnny Cash The Sound of Johnny Cash All Aboard the Blue Train Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash The Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash I Walk the Line Orange Blossom Special Everybody Loves a Nut Happiness Is You Old Golden Throat More of Old Golden Throat Hello, I'm Johnny Cash The World of Johnny Cash Man in Black A Thing Called Love Any Old Wind That Blows Ragged Old Flag The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me John R. Cash Look at Them Beans One Piece at a Time The Last Gunfighter Ballad I Would Like to See You Again Gone Girl Silver Rockabilly Blues The Baron The Adventures of Johnny Cash Johnny 99 Rainbow Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series Water from the Wells of Home Boom Chicka Boom The Mystery of Life American Recordings Unchained American III: Solitary Man American IV: The Man Comes Around Personal File American V: A Hundred Highways American VI: Ain't No Grave Out Among the Stars
Concept albums	Ride This Train Blood, Sweat and Tears Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian Sings the Ballads of the True West From Sea to Shining Sea America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song The Johnny Cash Children's Album The Rambler
Gospel albums	Hymns by Johnny Cash Hymns from the Heart The Holy Land The Gospel Road Sings Precious Memories A Believer Sings the Truth Believe in Him Return to the Promised Land My Mother's Hymn Book
Christmas albums	The Christmas Spirit The Johnny Cash Family Christmas Classic Christmas Johnny Cash Country Christmas
Collaborations	The Lure of the Grand Canyon Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter Johnny Cash and His Woman The Legend of Jesse James Million Dollar Quartet The Survivors Live Highwayman Class of '55 Heroes Highwayman 2 The Road Goes on Forever VH1 Storytellers
Live albums	At Folsom Prison At San Quentin The Johnny Cash Show På Österåker Strawberry Cake Koncert v Praze (In Prague–Live) At Madison Square Garden A Concert Behind Prison Walls
Non-gospel soundtracks	I Walk the Line Little Fauss and Big Halsy
Compilations	Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Heart of Cash Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Sunday Morning Coming Down International Superstar Five Feet High and Rising Destination Victoria Station Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 The Unissued Johnny Cash Johnny & June Tall Man Encore Biggest Hits The Man in Black 1954–1958 The Man in Black 1959–1962 Come Along and Ride This Train The Essential Johnny Cash (1992) Wanted Man The Man in Black 1963–1969 The Man in Black – His Greatest Hits 16 Biggest Hits Love, God, Murder The Essential Johnny Cash (2002) Unearthed The Legend The Legend of Johnny Cash Johnny Cash: Patriot 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II The Complete Columbia Album Collection
Songs	"25 Minutes to Go" "Seasons of My Heart" "Any Old Wind That Blows" "A Wonderful Time Up There" "The Ballad of Boot Hill" "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" "Big River" "Blistered" "A Boy Named Sue" "Busted" "Cat's in the Cradle" "Cocaine Blues" "Cry! Cry! Cry!" "Daddy Sang Bass" "Dark as a Dungeon" "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" "Engine 143" "Flesh and Blood" "The Folk Singer" "Folsom Prison Blues" "Forty Shades of Green" "Get Rhythm" "Give My Love to Rose" "Goodnight, Irene" "Green, Green Grass of Home" "Greystone Chapel" "Guess Things Happen That Way" "Hey, Porter" "Home of the Blues" "Hurt" "I Couldn't Keep from Crying" "I Love You Because" "I Still Miss Someone" "I Walk the Line" "If I Had a Hammer" "If I Were a Carpenter" "In My Life" "In the Jailhouse Now" "It Ain't Me Babe" "Jackson" "Kate" "The Man Comes Around" "Man in Black" "The Matador" "Oh Lonesome Me" "One Piece at a Time" "Oney" "Orange Blossom Special" "The One on the Right Is on the Left" "Remember the Alamo" "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" "Ring of Fire" "Rock Island Line" "So Doggone Lonesome" "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" "Tennessee Flat Top Box" "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" "A Thing Called Love" "Understand Your Man" "What Is Truth" "What'd I Say"
Television	The Johnny Cash Show
Family	June Carter Cash John Carter Cash Rosanne Cash Carlene Carter Tommy Cash Carter Family
Related	Albums discography Singles discography Sun Records discography The Highwaymen Carter Family Fold Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words Cash: The Autobiography Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music Walk the Line We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash Ring of Fire (2013 film) Ring of Fire (musical) My Father and the Man in Black Forever Words Dyess, Arkansas The Tennessee Three
Book

v t e Rodney Crowell
Studio albums	Ain't Living Long Like This But What Will the Neighbors Think Rodney Crowell Street Language Diamonds & Dirt Keys to the Highway Life Is Messy Let the Picture Paint Itself Jewel of the South The Houston Kid Fate's Right Hand The Outsider Sex & Gasoline Old Yellow Moon Tarpaper Sky The Traveling Kind Close Ties
Compilation albums	The Rodney Crowell Collection Greatest Hits
Singles	"Elvira" "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I" "Ashes by Now" "Ain't No Money" "It's Such a Small World" "I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried" "She's Crazy for Leavin'" "After All This Time" "Above and Beyond" "Many a Long and Lonesome Highway" "If Looks Could Kill" "My Past Is Present" "Now That We're Alone" "Lovin' All Night" "What Kind of Love" "Please Remember Me" "I Walk the Line Revisited"
Other songs	"The Answer Is Yes" "Heartbroke" "I Ain't Living Long Like This" "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight" "Making Memories of Us" "Queen of Hearts" "Song for the Life" "Voilá, An American Dream"
Related articles	Discography The Notorious Cherry Bombs The Notorious Cherry Bombs