"I Walk the Line" - Reverse Speech

The version heard in this video, "I Walk the Line" - Reverse Speech, is from the movie (1969) soundtrack. In my analysis of the reversal I refer to three versions sung by Johnny. The first is the movie soundtrack version. The second one I found here, and the third was recorded live at "Town Hall Party" in 1959. I also refer to a version sung by Joaquin Phoenix, found here.

I'd like to share one of my recent research projects for the benefit of those of you who share a sincere interest in learning about reverse speech or speech inversion.

"I Walk the Line" is a song written and performed by Johnny Cash. It was written in 1955 and first recorded in 1956. As I have come to expect, this song follows the trend of having a discernable message in the reversal of every line of lyrical content. My interest in this particular song was first in finding one that had a godly message in the reverseal. I had seen a short video presenting a couple phrases from this song that seemed good, so I took a closer look. It turned out to be a very complex and involving project.

Some people wonder why I would bother fussing over something like this. It's because I want to learn the truth. In such a quest you have to mind the details and carefully explore many facets of the subject.

As I learned in a similar study of The Star Spangled Banner, a message in the inversion may be attributed primarily to the lyrics being sung, but yet, the singer's individual performance can have a significant influence. Since Johhny Cash both wrote and sung this song, any messages found in the reversals are attributable to him. With a number of versions of this song produced over the many years spanning Johnny's career there is a opportunity for learning about the nature of speech inversion in the comparison of one version with another. As it turns out, this song is particularly interesting because the message is a very personal revelation about Johnny that gives possibly unique insight into the depth of this man's soul.

The message in this song is one of a very personal nature, and I offer my own interpretation of what it means in the table below. My interest in going this deep into the song wasn't in getting an inside look at the man in black, Johnny Cash, or to write an analytical biography or psychological profile. As I already stated, I was looking for a song that had a godly message in the reversal. I had no real expectation about the nature of the message going into the study because I had already learned that you just don't know what you're going to find until you look. Taking a "sound bite," like I had heard in the short video I mentioned, just isn't enough of a sampling because you really need more context, and what the message is in the forward lyrics can be completely opposite what's in the reversal. I had no bias about Johhn Cash going into this, and still don't. I generally like his music and respect much of what he did, though he would certainly be considered more of an ordinary Christian who struggles as a sinner with cycles of forgiveness than as a model saint. I want to say that there is no judgement being passed in this.

I listened carefully to three different versions, each sung by the songwriter, Johnny Cash. One of them is used for the video's soundtrack. In addition to those three, I listened to the version sung by Joaquin Phoenix for the movie "Walk the Line" from 2005. There was variations between the versions, but very minor. The version Joaquin sung was actually coser to the common "script" than one of Johnny's own versions.

The meaning of the song

What does it mean, to walk the line? It is to be careful to walk the straight and narrow path, mindful of the consequences for straying from it. In the Bible, in the book of Isaiah, such a line is presented as a rule or standard for measurement of behavior, and therefore the basis for judgment.

The matter of an individual walking "the line" is presented in Ephesians 5.

In that verse the word "circumspectly" describes this manner of walking presented in the song. It's the Greek word (Strong's g199 - akribos: "exactly, accurately, diligently" The meaning of the English word "circumspect" shows it is a good translation in the greater context of the passage. circumspect: "watchful and discreet; well-considered; Heedful of circumstances and potential consequences; prudent." Someone who is circumspect "habitually examines things on every side in order to weigh and deliberate." (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary) The lyrics of the song as Johnny Cash wrote them make this interpretation pretty clear.

"Bec'ed out"

I must preface the presentation of the forward and reverse messages by addressing a peculiar word found several times in the reversal. It is the word that sounds like "beak." Given the context of its use, it doesn't match the meaning of any "sound alike" words found in English or other languages. In Dutch, "beek" means "creek," which doesn't make sense in the context. This is not to suggest that the word or expression is meaningless filler. If we let it be defined by the context of its use, the meaning becomes pretty clear, as I think you agree after some consideration. Since the song is all about walking the line, interpreting the word within that context shows it refers to straying off the line, a condition of having strayed.

The occurrences as "beaked out" or "beak out" show similarity to the expression, "bug out." To bug out is to "leave or depart, to quit, usually in a hurry. It sometimes indicates the reason for doing so, as to avoid a responsibility or duty. In this there is harmony with the matter of walking the line, which is done in acceptance of the responsibility, one's duty to walk the line. To stray off the line is to "bug out," right? Consider, too, the expressions; "bailed out," or, "burned out."

Why then "beak" instead of "bug"? I think the answer is found in the primary line of the song lyrics, "Because you're mine, I walk the line." What sounds like "beek" or "beak" seems to be derived from the first word, "Because." It should then be spelled "bec'" as a casual abbreviated reverence to the word, "because." You see, "because" indicates the reason and motivation for walking the line. If he is able to walk the line it is with that focus of attention. If he strays, he's not mindful of the motivating factors, of the "because," of the "bec'." In such a circumstance, he's "bec'ed out." Also, considering this as "bec'" suggests that, in the giving of an account for his behavior, the offering of an excuse for the misstep, as, "I strayed because..." It took me a while to come to this understanding. What is so clearly annunciated in the song's reversals took some effort to grasp. My interpretation of this oft used expression is within the constraints of the context, fitting the forward and reversed message. If you have other insight, I'm interested in giving it consideration, so please, share it with me.

Johnny had his struggles, with drugs and alcohol, and with enduring emotional issues. In particular, he struggled with feelings about his personal responsibility in his brother Jack's accident and subsequent death.

"Cash was very close to his brother Jack, who was two years older. In 1944, Jack was pulled into a whirling table saw in the mill where he worked, and cut almost in two. He suffered for over a week before he died. Cash often spoke of the horrible guilt he felt over this incident. According to Cash: The Autobiography, his father was away that morning, but he and his mother, and Jack himself, all had premonitions or a sense of foreboding about that day, causing his mother to urge Jack to skip work and go fishing with his brother. Jack insisted on working, as the family needed the money. On his deathbed, Jack said he had visions of heaven and angels. Decades later, Cash spoke of looking forward to meeting his brother in heaven. He wrote that he had seen his brother many times in his dreams, and that Jack always looked two years older than whatever age Cash himself was at that moment." Wikipedia

This song is of some significance in our day due to its popularity and influence. In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the song at #30 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The tune of the song has an interesting story behind it that becomes more so given the nature of this study!

"Johnny Cash's first number -one Hit ( I Walk The Line ) in a sense was written backward. One night while he was stationed in Germany, Johnny then in the Air Force, discovered that his buddies had borrowed his reel-to-reel tape recorder. When he turned it on, he heard a haunting, organ-like sound. In Truth, it was guitar runs recorded with a tape running one direction and played back in the other. When he got back in the States, Johnny married and found success with ( Cry, Cry, Cry ) and ( Hey Porter ) but he never forgot that melody. In a Gladewater, Texas, dressing room he was sharing with tour partner Carl Perkins, Johnny played his backward tune. "What are you doing there sounds like a hit to me," Carl said. Johnny, with the Temptations outside his door and a new wife at home, wanted the lyrics to say, "I'm going to be true to those who believe in me and depend on me to myself and God. Something like I'm still being true, or I'm 'Walking The Line.' "The lyrics came as fast as I could write," says Johnny. "In 20 minutes, I had it finished." He recorded the song for Sun Records in 1956. But producer Sam Phillips pleading, he also recorded a faster version. When Johnny heard it, he begged Sam not to release any more copies. I thought it was horrible, he says. Country Fan's loved it. The Song topped Billboards country charts for six weeks and peaked at number 17 on pop charts" (from a "google cached" version of "Once Upon a Tune" - www.stevenmenke.com)

Johhny heard the original tune played backwards and liked it better that way. What became his first big hit song was a reversal! So, the tune you hear accompanying the reversal video I made is actually heard the way it was first recorded, being twice reversed!

The lyrics of this enduring song bring forth a message so many people have identified with. I suspect it has influenced more than a few with encouragement towards faithfulness in their marital relationships. Johhny's testimony of how the lyrics were written shows it came, as most would say, by inspiration. Through that inspiration, Johhny's life was imprinted into that song, in the reversal that provides an open window into Johnny Cash.

Our knowledge of reversed speech and an honest and diligent application of it is not without reward. The effort put into this project has given me a better understanding of this remarkable phenomonen.