The music legend talks with Obsessed about why she wanted to perform at a prison and how her son’s death from an opioid addiction inspired her to push for change.
came to her hometown and performed at the local prison. During his concert at the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas, Cash performed favorites like “A Boy Named Sue,” “The Prison Song,” and “Peace in the Valley” for a crowd of 1,200 inmates, quipping, “This is the same show we did for President Nixon, but we’re going to try a little harder here.”
It’s funny, because it wasn’t just me. There were a lot of different performers. We had dancers and singers, and we were all kids. I didn’t think anything of it. I just thought it was a fun thing to do. They would always be in control. The audience would come in and they would be very vocal, but I never felt in danger or anything. It was a really pleasant experience, except for all the bars we had to go through.
It was always something that was there. The producers, they were very sweet with me. The very last time they filmed me, they said, “OK, you need to talk about Beckett.” I was like, “All right, I’ll do it." It was a learning experience for me, and it was healing for me. What else was healing was when I was standing on stage during the concert and told the audience about my son.
Your music has often been a rally cry for change, and this project is certainly one that could inspire change. What is the role of art in this pursuit of changing people’s hearts and minds? In the film, I say, “I’ve just got to do this and this and this and this... and then I’ve just got to write it, right?” Your intentions are all there, and you just hope that you can, once again, do that magic of pulling it out of the sky. And it was exhilarating, putting my mind in the state of thinking about those women... How can I write a song using their voice? How can it be universal and specific to them? I think I’ve done it. I hope I’ve done it.
Between this project and your recent Broadway production that chronicled your life, it seems like you’re at a point in your life where you’re thinking about your legacy. Is that accurate?
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