Austin Prison
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Austin Prison" | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Single by Johnny Cash | |
| from the album Everybody Loves a Nut | |
| A-side | "Everybody Loves a Nut" "Austin Prison" |
| Released | May 1966 |
| Genre | country |
| Label | Columbia 4-43673 |
| Songwriter(s) | Johnny Cash |
| Producer(s) | Don Law and Frank Jones[1] |
| Audio | |
| "Austin Prison" on YouTube | |
"Austin Prison" is a song written by Johnny Cash[2] and originally recorded by him on Columbia Records for his 1966 novelty album Everybody Loves a Nut.
It was first released in May 1966[3] as the flip side to the second single (Columbia 4-43673, "Everybody Loves a Nut" / "Austin Prison") from the yet-to-be-released album.[4][5][6][7]
[The song] tells the story of a prisoner who is helped to escape by his jailer. "Now all I want between me and there are a lot of friendly people," he says, "and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles." Cash wrote the song, and he must have felt a very personal connection with it, given that it was recorded soon after his release from jail in Texas.
— C. Eric Banister. Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black[4]
[In the song,] the outlaw narrator is imprisoned for murdering a woman he may not have killed. He's found guilty and sentenced to die, but in a rare happenstance the jailer helps him escape. There certainly is a sense of ambiguity since we don't know for sure if he did or did not kill anyone. But we know that he got away.
— John M. Alexander. The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash[8]
