FOREVER WORDS

Newly discovered in the Cash family archives, a treasure of never-before-published poems and song lyrics, with copies of original handwritten documents from the legendary Johnny Cash, edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon and with a preface by John Carter Cash.

Since his first recordings in 1955, Johnny Cash has been an icon in the music world. Now comes a collection of as-yet-unpublished poems and song lyrics by Cash. In these words, we see the world through his eyes, his reflection upon his own interior reality—his frailties and his strengths alike. The poetry reveals his depth of understanding, both of the world around him and within. He pens verses in his hallmark voice, reflecting upon love, pain, freedom, and mortality. He also reveals insightful observations upon culture, his family, his fame, and even Christmas. Illustrated with facsimile reproductions of Cash's own handwritten pages, FOREVER WORDS is a remarkable new addition to the canon of one of America's heroes. Specifically, it confirms Johnny Cash as a brilliant American literary figure. His music is a part of our collective history, but here the depth of his artistry and talent become even more evident. Edited and with and introduction by Paul Muldoon, as well as a preface by John Carter Cash, this is a book sure to delight and surprise fans the world over.

JOHNNY CASH (1932-2003) was an American icon and country music superstar. He was the youngest person ever to be chosen for the Country Music Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and is also a member of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. He is a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors as well as the National Medal of Arts. Over the course of his career, he won nineteen Grammy awards, four of them posthumously, and performed everywhere from the Folsom State Prison to the White House.

JOHN CARTER CASH, having been involved in music all his life, is an accomplished and award winning record producer. However, his activities in the creative world reach far beyond just music production. He is also a singer-songwriter and recording artist. The grandson of Maybelle Carter and the only son to John R Cash and June Carter Cash, he preserves the family legacy and is a caretaker to the heritage of his musical ancestors. He is also author of three children’s books, a biography on his father, one on his mother’s life and a fantasy novel, Lupus Rex.

PAUL MULDOON is the author of twelve collections of verse, including Moy Sand and Gravel, for which he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He is Howard Clark Professor at Princeton University. Between 1999 and 2004 he was Professor of Poetry at Oxford. Since 2007 he has served as Poetry Editor of The New Yorker. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Literature and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.