Compared to the other two recordings of On the Banks, Johnny Cash’s version has an overall sadder tone. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that his voice doesn’t really acknowledge the morbid reality of the lyrics. When he sings of “plung[ing] a knife into her breast,” (the woman he loves), he maintains a solemn tone, not at all acknowledging a dramatic shift in the story. The melody of the song doesn’t quite fit with the shocking lyrics. Although Cash is describing a morbid scene in which a man kills his love and drowns her in a river, we don’t hear a change in the melody at all. As we discussed in lecture, we can expect this of traditional folk songs; although we expect the melody to change to fit the lyrics, in folk music, that doesn’t necessarily happen.

I would strongly agree that the expression of the lyrics changes from the beginning of the song to the end. At first, Cash depicts a man’s peaceful walk with his loved one as they discuss wedding plans with their “arms entwined.” As the song continues, it quickly becomes extremely violent, and the man depicted murders his love. There is a therefore a very dramatic shift in the expression of the lyrics – from an innocent walk in the park, to an untimely death in a river.