Gonna Cut Them Down

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11.16.06

Nick Adams

I don't get it. And apparently, neither does Hollywood (not that that's a big surprise). Check out this new video for Johnny Cash's God's Gonna Cut You Down. This song is from the posthumous release of American V: A Hundred Highways and includes some of the last songs the Man In Black ever wrote and recorded. God's Gonna Cut You Down is a cover of a traditional song but it's delivered vintage Cash, and is one of the best tracks on the record in my opinion.

Anyway, back to the video (once I start talking about Johnny Cash I get easily sidetracked). The video starts with a monologue that consists of the following:

Well, you know, Johnny always wore black, and he wore black because he identified with the poor and the downtrodden.

Ok, I'm on board so far. And the video is filmed in black and white with cuts from still images to grainy shots with dropped frames. Seems like an appropriate aesthetic for the song.

Except for one thing.

The subjects in the video are rich celebrities. Everyone from Kate Moss, to Iggy Pop, to Owen Wilson. Yeah, that seems like a good sample of the poor and the downtrodden. And sorry, but a supermodel with a cocaine problem does not qualify as downtrodden. What the hell is this video trying to say? Rick Rubin, are you serious? You're supposed to be speaking for Johnny Cash, not your Boulevard buddies.

Now, a tribute to Johnny Cash is one thing, but this video spews irony for all the wrong reasons. Especially considering the setup. How about we film some real working class folks. How about we tribute Mr. Cash through the people he truly spoke to. I don't need to see Kayne West paying his respects to Johnny, especially after his recent temper tantrum over not winning a video award. My video cost over 1 million dollars! I deserve to win! Waaaaaahhhhh. Did you know Johnny never won a video award until after his death? And did you know he was consistently shunned by the pop and country-music establishments throughout his career? So yea Kayne, forgive me if I say you make me want to throw-up.

Anyway, sorry about that. Rant over. My point is... uhh, that this video is bad. I guess. A little off topic, I apologize, but I'm sure that if you get creative you can somehow relate this to the importance of understanding your user/target audience, or what happens when you incorrectly apply or misunderstand your content, or why it's important to have a clearly defined message, or something.

Anyone agree with me? Or am I overreacting again.

This article was posted on Nov. 16th, 2006.
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Comments for "Gonna Cut Them Down"

Bear

commented on Nov. 17th, 2006 at 9:29 am

Great song. Video stinks. Agreed.
Nikolas

commented on Jan. 30th, 2007 at 9:43 am

Sweet :)
michelle

commented on Feb. 5th, 2007 at 2:38 am

great song! and kate moss? anyway, some of the celebs were worthy.while other? ididnt see the revalance.hell I just make the video a drinking game take a shot on every new face. :)
Jules

commented on Mar. 24th, 2007 at 11:26 am

To the gentleman above whom basically dissected the entire video...So you don't think that...cancer, drug addiction, discrimination, etc. can mean that these folks aren't poor or downtrodden? ( downtrodden: suffering oppression, poor: 2 a : less than adequate : MEAGER b : small in worth ) I am guessing that it was not meant in the typical sense as you appear to be seeing it. Personally, I think this video & song are phenomenal!!!! In every sense!!!
Nick

commented on Mar. 24th, 2007 at 2:34 pm

If you look at this through the eyes of a VH1 special, then yes, I guess these people are technically downtrodden. More money, more problems, etc.
But since this is a Johnny Cash song, you have to look at it from that point of view. And if you are familiar with the messages in his songs, then you realize that celebrities aren't the downtrodden he was speaking of. Only in this celebrity obsessed world we live in do we start to make that connection. Travel to any city in this country and I guarantee will find people with much bigger problems than those sensationalized on the cover of People Magazine.
There are Americans who are suffering real insurmountable oppression, i.e. not people who don't know how to handle fame and who abuse their overabundance of money. Not to mention that most celebrities have made a conscious decision to put themselves in the spotlight during many points in their life. Their obsessive need for attention is the reason they have many of their problems. This is far from and impenetrable external force keeping them down.
No one is going to get me to feel that celebrity problems are bigger than the problems of average American's, and no one is going to get me to feel that celebrity problems are even an accurate representation of average American's problems — especially not a self-pitying Hollywood production.

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