The Spiritual Song Johnny Cash Played Every Night in the 1960s: “It Always Gave Me Inspiration”

Johnny Cash had many songs that were mainstays on his setlists—certain songs he had to play for fear of disappointing his audience. Then, there were songs included in his live sets that were put there of his own volition. There was one song, not in his catalog, that he played consistently throughout the 1960s. This pervasive track meant a lot to Cash in his personal life, reminding him of his faith. Find out more about one of Cash’s favorite songs below.

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The Song Johnny Cash Performed Often in the 1960s

Cash was an infamously troubled artist. He and his family have spoken openly about his addiction in the past. Despite this—or perhaps because of it—Cash remained a devout Christian throughout his life. Though his songs often focused on the darker sides of life, he never lost sight of his faith.

Cash wrote several songs about Christianity, but there was one standard gospel song that he used as inspiration for his own work: “Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord).”

“The other one on there is ‘Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord),’ a spiritual that features the Carter Family,” Cash once said. “That may be my favourite. It’s the one that I sang in every concert through the ‘60s, and it always gave me inspiration.”

The audience was succinctly reminded of Cash’s moral center whenever he played this track. Cash’s love of this song seemed to, more or less, be the groundwork for his songwriting as a whole.

Cash on Faith

Cash and his family haven’t been shy about expressing their faith. It’s indispensable to the conversation of the country icon’s career.

“My father’s faith was defining of who he was,” John Carter Cash once said. “My dad fell short in many ways through his life, but he always went back to that faith. He always carried that with him no matter what, wherever he went. Everything that he did in his life, that was a foundation.”

Despite Cash’s many faith-based songs, he didn’t feel called by God to preach. Instead, he used his actual calling—singing—to get the word out.

“I think in my world of religion, you’re called to preach or you don’t preach,” Cash added. “Called by God to preach. I never been ordained by God to preach the gospel. I have a calling, it’s called to perform and sing.”

(Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)