Gravitas

The use of the word gravitas occasionally annoys me.

However, Johnny Cash had gravitas.

Merriam-Webster defines gravitas as: "high seriousness (as in a person's bearing or in the treatment of a subject); a very serious quality or manner."

The talking heads on the cable news shows frequently use the word gravitas. They annoy me because sometimes it comes across as pretentious. Like "Listen to my vocabulary. Ain't it impressive?"

It is used on MSNBC a lot and there, maybe, it is fitting. These are intelligent people who exercise their vocabulary on each other. I also like to think that they assume their audience has a solid vocabulary as well, since they do not dumb it down. They expect you to understand.

Somehow, though, it still comes across as pretentious.

The word is used on Fox as well but there you know they just went to the dictionary and picked out certain words they thought would hide their shallowness, which is ironic when you think about it.

Or, more than likely, they heard an MSNBC talking head use it, which prompted them to look it up and decide that they could use it to.

The only flaw in the logic there is that the FOX audience can only comprehend two syllable words. I can picture Buck and his wife Flo repeating the word as an educational exercise and then using it thusly: "Flo fix me up some gravitas for supper. If it's good enough for W, its good enough for us."

To be fair, I love vocabulary. I have an extensive vocabulary filled with $20 words but it is atrophying because I dumb myself down to get through the day. The people I work with, if you are not quoting an Adam Sandler movie line, you are not communicating. You get the picture.

But I digress.

Country music is generalized as cry in your beer simplicity. My dog died, my wife left me, I lost my job, I lost my home,  I'm doin' time.

Today's country singers cannot pull that off with sincerity. They are a bunch of wimpy ass wannabes trying to come off as authentic country tough guys. When they sing these sad songs they are working a formula like a mathematician. And worrying about whether or not they look pretty enough. I'm talking about the guys.

They make me puke.

Johnny Cash was the real deal. As was Waylon Jennings, as is Willie and Kris.

I was listening to "Johnny Cash American IV: The Man Comes Around" yesterday. Got a song on there called "Give My Love To Rose." Johnny comes across a stranger near death on the road. A man who just spent 10 years in prison and was trying to make it back to his wife and son. He's got a sack of money which he asks Johnny to get to his wife. Asks him to tell his son he's proud of him and to give his love to Rose. And to tell Rose she should marry someone else because she doesn't deserve to be alone.

I am getting goosebumps retelling the story. Cash made it so real, so genuinely sad, so life is unfair true.

If Brad Paisley were singing that song I couldn't skip the track fast enough. With Johnny Cash I hung on every word.

Another song called "I Hung My Head." 'Bout a guy who was practicing sighting his rifle on a man on a horse in the distance when it accidentally goes off, killing the stranger. He panics, doesn't know what to do, so he runs. Eventually he is caught and hangs his head in shame as he faces the gallows.

If a country newbie were singing the song, I would laugh knowing full well the only gun he ever handled was the six shooter mommy bought for him when he was five years old.

With Johnny Cash I felt soul deep bad for this dude.

On top of that Cash does a bunch of covers on this album. "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "First Time Ever I saw Your Face", "Personal Jesus", "In My Life." To be more exact he covers Simon and Garfunkel, Roberta Flack, Depeche Mode, and The Beatles.

That is an incredible range of songs and artists to cover. Especially when you contrast their styles with Johnny Cash's style.

And he does it with class. And direct, unflowered emotion that goes right to your heart.

He pulls all this off because he was a man who experienced life down and dirty. He LIVED his life. He didn't decide to become a country singer and go to the country outfitters store to pick out the perfect hat and flowered shirt.

He was born a country singer.

Today's country singers cannot even spell gravitas, let alone understand or project it.

Johnny Cash dared you to not take him seriously.

Johnny Cash had gravitas.