except of Montana
May 25, 2014 3:50 PM   Subscribe

 
It is difficult to overstate how entertaining I find this link.
posted by winna at 4:03 PM on May 25, 2014 [7 favorites]


Well, he's been a lot of places, but, truth be told, not really "everywhere".
posted by HuronBob at 4:05 PM on May 25, 2014


Johnny has been a few other places too. He'd like to go home now.
posted by Longtime Listener at 4:06 PM on May 25, 2014


That was the best thing I've seen all day. I love the suspense at the beginning of the song waiting for the first set of cities to drop.
posted by octothorpe at 4:16 PM on May 25, 2014 [2 favorites]


Site complained that Johnny prefers $NOT_MOZILLA but it still seemed to work fine.
posted by localroger at 4:17 PM on May 25, 2014


It appears as though there are a few points identified on the Wikipedia page but for some reason not marked on the map, such as Opelika, AL.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:19 PM on May 25, 2014


Didn't mark Devil's Lake, either, of which Wikipedia says there are at least eight or nine locations to choose from.
posted by ardgedee at 4:21 PM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


Cadillac is one that I've heard of that's missing; there's a Cadillac, MI. Wikipedia informs me there are other ones too. I looked for a way to contact the designer to let them know, but didn't notice one, so I'm just going to assume they read Metafilter.
posted by Flunkie at 4:25 PM on May 25, 2014


I grew up with the Statler Brothers' version of that, and the memory of it was better than a revisit. The gear changes are painful, and the handoffs seem less organic than gimmicky.

I think Lucky Starr's version holds up better, but I wasn't able to find Geoff Mack's.
posted by johnofjack at 4:26 PM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


I was bummed that the Waterloo shown is not Waterloo Ontario. I think it's a mistake on their part, as he as been here.

But this was fun.
posted by el io at 4:31 PM on May 25, 2014


I think it's a mistake on their part, as he as been here.
Well of course he has. He's been everywhere.
posted by Flunkie at 4:33 PM on May 25, 2014 [2 favorites]


He also missed Chicopee, on Cape Cod.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:36 PM on May 25, 2014


Chicopee is right by Holyoke, MA.
posted by sciencegeek at 4:41 PM on May 25, 2014 [2 favorites]


Oh, I always thought it was on the Cape. My bad.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:44 PM on May 25, 2014


He reports that there is a Johnny Cash song for every emotion and every situation, feeling happy or feeling sad and although Mr. B. played almost simply and solely Johnny Cash songs for the following years, the music never starts to annoy him.

I feel similarly about Johnny Cash.

Great find!
posted by quiet earth at 4:46 PM on May 25, 2014 [2 favorites]


My brother used to try to sing this song when he was drunk. Its etched into my brain..he was drunk a lot. It was introduced to North America from Australia by Hank Snow in the 1950's. (A Canadian that settled in Nashville).
posted by smudgedlens at 4:47 PM on May 25, 2014


My uncle claims to have once impressed a college girlfriend by singing this whole song from memory while they were on a hike. (He's always been a little discreet about just how impressed she was, but I have my suspicions. :-> )
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:50 PM on May 25, 2014 [2 favorites]


Johnny Cash is, yes, I said is, great.

Feel free to skip Jackson MS. It is not great.
posted by vapidave at 4:59 PM on May 25, 2014


You think Johnny has been a lot of places? Stompin' Tom has been to all of those, plus - you know he can't resist it - a bunch more of Canada, including all over the Maritimes. (He covers Ontario earlier in the song, with a shout out to Hank Snow besides).
posted by Ed The Sock at 5:05 PM on May 25, 2014 [2 favorites]


Feel free to skip Jackson MS. It is not great.

You kidding? That's where June's gonna be waiting! Behind her Jay-pan fan!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:13 PM on May 25, 2014 [10 favorites]


The Internet redeems itself! Always nice. Love this!
posted by rahnefan at 5:36 PM on May 25, 2014


Public service announcement: I have been to Winnemucca. Don't bother.
posted by mudpuppie at 5:40 PM on May 25, 2014


The Star Trek-Johnny Cash Riddle: How could Captain Kirk boldly go where no man has gone before if Johnny Cash has been everywhere, man?
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 5:41 PM on May 25, 2014 [7 favorites]


It is very strange to me that this is relevant to something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wYM7mve7lI

(Those are not the Farrelly Brothers you think they are. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunty_Jack_Sings_Wollongong)
posted by dansdata at 5:50 PM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


I would assume that the Kingston he mentions is actually Kingston, Jamaica....
posted by 256 at 6:01 PM on May 25, 2014


The Star Trek-Johnny Cash Riddle: How could Captain Kirk boldly go where no man has gone before if Johnny Cash has [already] been everywhere, man?

So, only one of them could possibly be telling the truth, right? I love me some post-PriceLine Shatner as much as the next person, but I would stake my trust in Cash before Shatner. Ymmv.
posted by marsha56 at 6:13 PM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


Indeed, there are a lot of places named Kingston.
Public service announcement: I have been to Gravelbourg. It's interesting because it is a French-English bilingual enclave in the middle of Saskatchewan. There is an original Renoir hanging in the public library.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 6:20 PM on May 25, 2014


That was awesome.
posted by valkane at 6:21 PM on May 25, 2014


I think the real question is: Where is he a wanted man?
posted by doublesix at 6:27 PM on May 25, 2014 [2 favorites]


I wonder why I'd always thought this was originally, in some form, by Woody Guthrie? But I'm relieved to know it's not, because now I feel much better about preferring Cash's version above all others.

Also, I'm quite happy to learn it was originally written by an Australian country music singer using (naturally) Australian towns.

Johnny Cash was the bestest. I grew up listening to Cash; my dad idolized Johnny Cash. Hell, I watched my dad beat up a guy over an argument about Johnny Cash.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 7:23 PM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


He's never been to me
posted by islander at 8:00 PM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


ACL did a tribute to Johnny in 2003. Drive-By Truckers covered "I Walk the Line" and while nothing could be as great as the original, Patterson Hood's heartfelt intro, in which he imagines June Carter getting to heaven a few months early and making a big Southern dinner with all of Johnny's favorite foods in preparation for her love's arrival will put a tear in your eye.

Drive-By Truckers - "I Walk the Line"
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:01 PM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


So what did he have against North Carolina?
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 8:23 PM on May 25, 2014


I've needed to see that for my entire life, but was just waiting for the technology to catch up.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:54 PM on May 25, 2014 [2 favorites]


The Johnny Cash version is the best version of every song he sings.
posted by freejinn at 10:48 PM on May 25, 2014 [3 favorites]


Stompin' Tom has been to all of those, plus - you know he can't resist it - a bunch more of Canada

Oh, yeah, now I want to see one of these here fancy song maps for Stompin' Tom Connors.
posted by Spatch at 4:28 AM on May 26, 2014


Whereas Rick Moranis...
posted by Bromius at 5:05 AM on May 26, 2014 [4 favorites]


They butchered "Costa Rica" there. No wonder they couldn't find a match.
posted by flippant at 5:14 AM on May 26, 2014


So what did he have against North Carolina?

Not to mention Alabama; I did have to look up Tallapoosa to make sure which state it was in since I mainly know it as an exit on I-20.
posted by TedW at 5:53 AM on May 26, 2014


The Johnny Cash version is the best version of every song he sings.

Actually, I found him rather less than convincing when he and Tony Joe White duetted on Tony Joe's Poke Salad Annie. Johnny just didn't have that swamp thing, you know? Fun to see him and Tony Joe joke around about smoking various weeds, though. You could do that on TV back ten...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:26 AM on May 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Could someone hack this to work with Dave Van Ronk's Garden State Stomp please thank you very much
posted by moonmilk at 7:38 AM on May 26, 2014


Well, he's been a lot of places, but, truth be told, not really "everywhere".

The list does not claim to be exclusive.
posted by IndigoJones at 9:13 AM on May 26, 2014


that Rick Moranis rap is gold
posted by growabrain at 9:52 AM on May 26, 2014


Now you just need to cross reference it with Tom Waits, and then I think you've got something!
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 10:05 AM on May 26, 2014




Not to take a thing away from the man in black but:

I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonapah
I've driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the back roads
So I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me weed, whites, and wine
And you show me a sign
I'll be willin', to be movin'.


And even though I've hit all fifty states, I think that getting pics of me in front of each of those towns' signs meant more to me than crossing the continent.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 3:40 PM on May 26, 2014 [2 favorites]


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