I looked into depth in the differences between the Bill Monroe and the Monroe Brothers’ version of “On the Banks of the Ohio” and Johnny Cash’s version. Both represent American folk but differ slightly in their styles. The Monroe version is much more rugged with a more upbeat tempo, whereas Johnny Cash’s remake slows down the tempo and the sound is much clearer. The lyrics are the same but the differing styles provide somewhat different meanings. The remake seems to be more concerned with the lyrics as a means to drive to melody of the song making it sad and depressing consistently throughout the song fueled by the consistently sad melody and rhythm. The original song focuses on the American folk style and drifts away from the meaning of the lyrics by keeping an upbeat rhythm that changes multiple times throughout the song and providing room for banjo soloing I believe and other changes in tempo. Again this version is very concerned with the sense of entertainment that the song provides rather than so much of what it is about while also taking into account that it is a sad song expressing a sense of pain. It goes back to a consistent melody as it goes into verse but while the artist doesn’t sing the song tends to drift into an even further upbeat tempo to give the song a lot of life and variety.

Justin Berg