Very interesting. One more example of Mr. Cash not fitting the stereotype of a redneck country singer. He hung out with Dylan, put Pete Seger on his TV show and was openly sympathetic to the plight of Native Americans.
One of my favorite stories about him is the time he was invited to play for Nixon at the White House, an invitation he accepted. Then he was sent word that Nixon had personally requested 2 songs, "Okie from Muskogee" and "Welfare Cadillac". Neither was a Johnny Cash song and the latter was a racist diatribe in verse. Needless to say, Johnny played neither. Instead, he sang an anti-war song he'd written called "What is Truth?", to Nixon, who later said that he had learned one thing about Johnny Cash: don't try to tell him what to play.


WHAT IS TRUTH?
(Johnny Cash)

The old man turned off the radio
Said, "Where did all of the old songs go
Kids sure play funny music these days
They play it in the strangest ways"
Said, "it looks to me like they've all gone wild
It was peaceful back when I was a child"
Well, man, could it be that the girls and boys
Are trying to be heard above your noise?
And the lonely voice of youth cries "What is truth?"

A little boy of three sittin' on the floor
Looks up and says, "Daddy, what is war?"
"Son, that's when people fight and die"
The little boy of three says "Daddy, why?"
A young man of seventeen in Sunday school
Being taught the golden rule
And by the time another year has gone around
It may be his turn to lay his life down
Can you blame the voice of youth for asking
"What is truth?"

A young man sittin' on the witness stand
The man with the book says "Raise your hand"
"Repeat after me, I solemnly swear"
The man looked down at his long hair
And although the young man solemnly swore
Nobody seems to hear anymore
And it didn't really matter if the truth was there
It was the cut of his clothes and the length of his hair
And the lonely voice of youth cries
"What is truth?"

The young girl dancing to the latest beat
Has found new ways to move her feet
The young man speaking in the city square
Is trying to tell somebody that he cares
Yeah, the ones that you're calling wild
Are going to be the leaders in a little while
This old world's wakin' to a new born day
And I solemnly swear that it'll be their way
You better help the voice of youth find
"What is truth?"

And the lonely voice of youth cries "What is truth?"


Songwriters: Cash John R

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3k_exJLYJQ