"Forty Shades of Green" is a song about

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, written and first performed by American country singer

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

. Cash wrote the song in 1959 while on a trip to Ireland; it was first released as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the song " The Rebel–Johnny Yuma" in 1961. It is also included in two of Cash's albums: '' Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash'', released on Columbia Records in 1963, and '' Johnny Cash: The Great Lost Performance – Live at the Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, New Jersey'', recorded live in 1990 and released in 2007. Cash once recalled performing the song in Ireland and being told by an old man afterwards, that it must have been an old Irish folk tune. "Forty Shades of Green" has also been recorded by Dexys Midnight Runners, Daniel O'Donnell,

Foster and Allen Foster and Allen are a musical duo from Ireland consisting of Mick Foster and Tony Allen. In their 47-year career, they have released over 52 albums, many of which entered the UK Albums Chart. Along with "A Bunch of Thyme" (entering the Irish ch ...

, Roger Whittaker and

Ruby Murray Ruby Florence Murray (29 March 1935 – 17 December 1996) was a Northern Irish singer. One of the most popular singers in the British Isles in the 1950s, she scored ten hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1954 and 1959. She also made pop chart ...

, among others. Irish guitarist

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...

quoted the song in the title track of his 1987 album, ''

Wild Frontier ''Wild Frontier'' is the sixth solo studio album by Northern Irish guitarist Gary Moore, released on 2 March 1987. His first studio effort after a trip back to his native Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1985, the album contains several songs abo ...

'', as a reference to a once innocent Ireland "before the wars began": "The victims you have seen. You'll never hear them sing again The Forty Shades Of Green".

References

External links

Lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forty Shades Of Green 1959 songs Songs written by Johnny Cash Johnny Cash songs Songs about Ireland