"Wide Open Road" is a song written by
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 ...
. It became the first song he recorded for
Sun Records.
Recorded by Cash in early 1955, it wasn't released as a
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
until 1964,
years after his move to
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
. (That year Sun included the unpublished songs "Belshazah" and "Wide Open Road" on the album ''
Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash'' and also released them as two sides of the only single off it.)
Composition
Cash wrote this song while serving in the U.S. Army in Germany.
It is a song about a lovers' quarrel.
It is one of those songs in which Cash "chases his roaming
omanof waits for
erto return, all while feeling a sense of dislocation and identity trouble because of the woman's departure". Other examples include "
Big River", "
So Doggone Lonesome", "
Port of Lonely Hearts", "
Don't Make Me Go
"Don't Make Me Go" is a song written and originally recorded by Johnny Cash.
The song was recorded by Cash in April 1957 and released as a single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* " ...
", "
Next in Line", "
There You Go", "Two-Timing Woman".
John M. Alexander writes in his book ''The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash'',
According to
AllMusic, this early song "shows the singer still under influence of
Hank Williams
Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...
". It is also "a rarity in featuring the steel guitar of A.W. 'Red' Kernodle, who left the group
/nowiki>The Tennessee Three">The_Tennessee_Three.html" ;"title="/nowiki>The Tennessee Three">/nowiki>The Tennessee Three/nowiki> shortly afterwards."[onus Tracks
Onus, from Latin, indicates accountability/responsibility
Onus may also refer to:
* Blame
* Burden (disambiguation)
* Legal burden of proof (''onus probandi'')
As a surname
* Bill Onus (1906-68), Australian Aboriginal political activist, boo ...]
The opposite side of the single is another song written by Cash himself, "Belshazah".