Song Eight

This holiday season, while our children were still in school, we finally got to see a few movies. One of these was Walk the Line, which my husband rightly noted had more story and acting in any random five minutes than one could find in all of King Kong (boring, bad and long--a trifecta). Plus, WTL features the ever hard-livin' Shelby Lynne (dear readers, go buy I am Shelby Lynne right now). WTL also has my absolutely, hands-down favorite line in all of 2005 moviedom: "That boy Elvis sure do like to talk poon." I almost did a spit take of my snuck-in Tab. Perfect!

As a young girl, all I knew about Mr. Cash came from the single "A Boy Named Sue"--which kind of lumped him in with Ray Stevens (yes, I am old). Oh, and I remember he and Mrs. Cash were on a Columbo once. So, time warp forward to the post-Rick Rubin years, and I got to see the whole gang live. It was a great show, but it didn't inspire me to go on a buying binge. The remarkable and winsome energy on display in WTL, though, did make me want to download Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash's "Jackson." And, really, it was more for Mrs. Cash's wonderful hollering growl of a voice than her husband's. When I did see them in concert, I remember thinking, "She is a real piece of work." Hearing her at her prime, so winning and sassy--what a hoot! This is the "His Girl Friday" of country duets: fast, witty, and full of heat. Listen and learn, gals.

357 to go.