3 Johnny Cash Gospel Songs That Prove Even Outlaws Seek Redemption

Even when Johnny Cash wasn’t performing gospel music, he often turned earthly tunes into celestial hymns. A heartrending example of such a transformation is his eternal cover of “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails. A constant in Cash’s catalog, spiritual songs define him perhaps as much as his black clothing and outlaw association.

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So for this list, I tried to choose three gospel songs recorded by Johnny Cash that represent what an outlaw might experience out there on the road: fear, redemption, and finally, freedom.

“God’s Gonna Cut You Down” (2006)

Though “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” has been covered many times, once heard in Johnny Cash’s voice, it’s difficult to hear it any other way. The traditional hymn warns of God’s wrath and sounds ever so ominous in Cash’s booming baritone. His cover appears on the Rick Rubin-produced American V: A Hundred Highways. Recorded in the final year of Cash’s life, it’s a cautionary tale from an outlaw facing his own mortality.

Go tell that long-tongued liar,
Go and tell that midnight rider,
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter,
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down,
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down.

“If I Give My Soul” (2003)

Written by Billy Joe Shaver, this redemption hymn appears on Cash’s box set, Unearthed. Here, Cash describes a wife and child left behind as the narrator drinks, makes music, and travels with the devil’s band. After years of scattered dreams and plans, he finally asks for forgiveness, clean clothes, and new boots. Alone and broken, he wonders whether making peace with Jesus will reconnect him with his family. Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, you can imagine the lonely outlaw in a dark and dingy motel room, wondering if he’ll ever return home.

Oh, the years went by like a mighty rush of eagles,
Our dreams and plans were all scattered in the wind.
And it’s a lonesome life when you lose the ones you live for,
If I make my peace with Jesus, will they take me back again?

“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” (1959)

This African American spiritual uses biblical imagery to describe a divine journey home. Sung as a song of resistance by slaves, the prophet Elijah and his chariot can be interpreted here as the Underground Railroad. The literal reading may be a supernatural destination, but the more immediate concern is freedom. Meanwhile, Cash’s galloping 1959 version celebrates a saving band of angels, as the country singer finds peace in knowing his soul is “heavenly bound.”

Well, I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
Coming for to carry me home
There was a band of angels, a-coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns