“Flesh and Blood”
Johnny Cash
Written by Johnny Cash
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
January 30, 1971
“A Boy Named Sue” and “Sunday Morning Coming Down” were such huge career records for Johnny Cash that it was easy to forget that he was an accomplished songwriter in his own right, and he came pretty close to matching Silverstein and Kristofferson with “Flesh and Blood.”
This simple, gorgeous ballad celebrates the beauty of God’s creation in each verse, with a genuine sense of wonder that keeps it from sounding cloying like Ray Stevens’ “Everything is Beautiful.” The payoff is better here too, as he does such a great job establishing how beautiful nature is that we really feel the impact when he concludes that it all pales in comparison to the love of his life: “Flesh and blood needs flesh and blood, and you’re the one I need.”
It’s hard to believe that Cash won’t appear on this feature again until the mid-seventies, and with a novelty record at that. While this is the final No. 1 single of his late sixties/early seventies renaissance, he had a handful of additional top five singles that kept the creative juices flowing, most especially “Man in Black” and “Oney.”
“Flesh and Blood” gets an A.
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I have always known this song but for some reason never really paid attention to the lyrics, so I went back and paid attention. It might be a slight stretch but I give this one an “A-“. The 70’s felt like just great intimate conversations. I doubt simplicity will ever be in style again.
I may have heard this once before but it’s definitely gotten lost in the shuffle of Johnny’s discography. Interesting comparison to Ray Stevens’ “Everything is Beautiful”, which I probably wouldn’t have picked up on. I’d have to hear the song more to assign a grade, but it was an enjoyable first listen. Kind of crazy that “Man in Black” didn’t make it to #1.
I love the sentiment of this song, but the writing style always seemed a little too twee for Johnny Cash.