About the song
Few voices in American music carry the same weight, weariness, and raw authority as that of **Johnny Cash**. Even in his final years, his voice—weathered by decades of life and performance—remained a powerful vessel for truth-telling. Nowhere is this more evident than in **Johnny Cash – God’s Gonna Cut You Down**, a stark and haunting reinterpretation of a traditional folk song that becomes something far more profound in Cash’s hands: a stripped-down reckoning, a spiritual warning, and a moral mirror held up to the world.
Originally a traditional gospel number, **”God’s Gonna Cut You Down”** has seen numerous interpretations across genres, from Elvis Presley to Odetta. But what Cash does with the song is singular. Recorded during his final sessions with producer Rick Rubin as part of the *American* series, the track appears posthumously on the 2006 album *American V: A Hundred Highways*. The arrangement is minimal—just a resonant stomp, clap, and a brooding acoustic guitar. Over this austere backdrop, Cash’s gravelly voice intones a message that is as old as scripture: no one outruns consequence.
There’s a preacher’s fire in his delivery, but not the performative fervor of revival tents; rather, it’s the voice of a man who has seen the inside of cells and sanctuaries alike. Cash doesn’t just sing the lyrics—he inhabits them. “You can run on for a long time,” he growls, “but sooner or later, God’ll cut you down.” It’s a line that might feel ominous in the wrong hands, but from Cash, it sounds like grace clothed in judgment. He isn’t delighting in retribution; he’s mourning the folly that leads us there.
What makes **Johnny Cash – God’s Gonna Cut You Down** so compelling is its brutal honesty. It doesn’t point fingers outward; it reminds us all—regardless of status, belief, or past—that justice, divine or otherwise, is inescapable. And in Cash’s twilight voice, that truth feels not like condemnation, but like a solemn invitation to examine ourselves more closely.
Video
Lyrics
… Oh my God
… You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
… Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
… Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the news
My head’s been wet with the midnight dew
I’ve been down on bended knee
Talkin’ to the man from Galilee
… He spoke to me in the voice so sweet
I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel’s feet
He called my name and my heart stood still
When he said, “John, go do my will!”
… Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
… You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
… Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin’ in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What’s down in the dark will be brought to the light
… You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
… Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
… Oh yeah
Cut him down
Cut him down
Cut him down
