Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around Lyrics
Lyrics
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.
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
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?
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
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
'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
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
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
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
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
Johnny Cash-The_Man_Comes Around
Meaning & Inspiration
Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around," released posthumously on September 6, 2009, stands as a profound and chilling testament to faith, judgment, and the ultimate reckoning. This track, penned by Cash himself, plunges listeners into a scene of cosmic finality, not with a gentle invitation, but with the thunderous pronouncement of an unavoidable spiritual encounter. The song's power lies not in its sonic landscape, though that is undeniably stark and evocative, but in its unflinching gaze upon the prophesied return of Christ and the ensuing divine judgment described throughout Scripture. Cash, drawing deeply from his lifelong engagement with the Bible, crafts a narrative that echoes the urgency and gravity found in passages like Revelation 6:16-17, where kings, princes, generals, and the enslaved all cry out to hide from the face of God and the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath has come, and who can stand?
The core message of "The Man Comes Around" is a solemn call to preparedness in the face of Christ's imminent return and the final judgment. Cash, through his gravelly voice and the song's haunting imagery, presents a vivid picture of the divine visitor, not as a benevolent shepherd arriving for the lost sheep, but as a formidable figure of righteous authority, assessing every soul. This resonates strongly with Jesus’ own words in Matthew 25:31-32, describing the Son of Man coming in His glory with all the angels, separating people from one another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. The song’s invocation of “the man” is a powerful, almost personified representation of divine justice, a truth woven through Old and New Testament prophecy. Cash’s vision aligns with the understanding of the Antichrist as a deceptive figure, but ultimately, the song's focus is on the True Man, the King of Kings, who is coming to set all things right.
Cash masterfully encapsulates the universal nature of this impending event, emphasizing that no earthly status or power will shield anyone from this ultimate audit. From the "rich man" to the "poor man," from the "queen" to the "beggar," all will stand before the judgment seat. This echoes the impartiality of God’s judgment as stated in Romans 2:11: "For God shows no partiality." The repeated phrase “And the last shall be first, and the first shall be last” directly references Jesus’ teachings, particularly in Matthew 20:16, and emphasizes a reversal of worldly hierarchies in the divine economy. The song’s raw honesty, devoid of any sentimentalism, forces contemplation on one’s own spiritual standing, mirroring the seriousness with which the early church awaited Christ's return, as seen in passages like 1 Thessalonians 5:2, "For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." "The Man Comes Around" is not merely a song; it is a spiritual wake-up call, a sonic sermon delivered by a man who understood the weight of eternity and shared that profound understanding with unwavering conviction.