Lyrics
Intro
And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder,
One of the four beasts saying, Come and see
And I saw, and behold a white horse.
Verse 1
There's a man going around taking names
And he decides who to free and who to blame
Everybody won't be treated all the same
There will be a golden ladder reaching down
When the man comes around
Verse 2
The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and in each sup
Will you partake of that last offered cup?
Or disappear into the potter's ground
When the man comes around?
Chorus
Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling and voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come
Bridge
And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks
Verse 3
'Til Armageddon, no shalam, no shalom
Then the father hen will call his chickens home
The wise man will bow down before the throne
And at his feet, they'll cast the golden crowns
When the man comes around
Verse 4
Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still
Whoever is righteous, let him be righteous still
Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still
Listen to the words long written down
When the man comes around
Chorus (Repeat)
Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling and voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come
Bridge (Repeat)
And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks
In measured hundredweight and penny pound
When the man comes around
Outro
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts,
And I looked and behold, a pale horse:
And his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.
Video
Meaning & Inspiration
“The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash is a song of judgment drawn closely from the Book of Revelation. It opens by quoting the scene in which one of the four living creatures says “Come and see” and a white horse appears, which matches Revelation 6:1-2, and it closes on the pale horse whose rider is named Death, from Revelation 6:8.
Between those quotations the lyric gathers other biblical images: the wise and foolish virgins trimming their wicks from Matthew 25, the words “it’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks” from Acts 26:14, the hen calling her chickens home as in Matthew 23:37, and crowns cast before the throne as in Revelation 4:10. The lines “Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still” closely follow Revelation 22:11, and “Alpha and Omega’s kingdom come” names Christ with a title from Revelation 22:13.
The song asks whether the listener will take “that last offered cup” or be lost, and sets that question beside a golden ladder reaching down. Its message is the seriousness of the final reckoning.
Related Scripture
- Revelation 6:1-8 The four horsemen quoted at the start and end of the song
- Revelation 22:11 “Let him that is unjust be unjust still”
- Matthew 25:1-13 The virgins trimming their lamps