Was Johnny Cash a 'mommy's boy'?

I took my wife to see "Walk The Line", the movie about Johnny Cash and June Carter. Theirs was one of the most celebrated marriages in the entertainment industry. It lasted more than 30 years and survived Johnny's drug habit. (My parents were in the entertainment industry and my Mum used to say, "It's hard to stay married in this business. There's just too much temptation."
The movie - which is fantastic if you're a music fan - makes J.R. Cash out to be a weak man who couldn't function without June who was portrayed as a "mommy" figure. Now that ain't no way to treat a lady. A strong relationship is one between two emotionally-mature adults, coming together each from a place of strength, self-reliance, and lack of dependence. (As much as women hate not being needed enough, they dislike it even more when a guy needs them too much, ie. can't stand on his own two feet.) Johnny Cash was portrayed in the movie as needing June too much.
But hold on. Didn't I drink too much and smoke too much weed and not eat properly or get enough sleep in the year Louisa and I were apart? (Background: she left me for another man shortly after our first child was born 30 years ago. I gave her good reasons to leave.) So maybe I'm a 'mommy's boy' as well.

Roy LaFontaine's song 'Trouble' rings true for me.

Trouble
Trouble Trouble Trouble Trouble Trouble
Trouble been doggin' my life since the day I was born
Worry
Worry Worry Worry Worry Worry
Worry just refuse to let my mind alone
But I've been saved by a woman
Yes I've been saved by a woman

I've still got troubles and worries, but they all seem so handleable if she's in my life. And when we have those seemingly terminal disputes (yes, Mr Love falls into the Black Pit of Marriage like anyone else) all the achievements and wonderful things that I've been given seem worthless.

Roy's second song on his album 'Trouble' includes the lyrics:

You will shelter me, my love
And I will shelter you.

Isn't that what marriage is about? Finding a place of shelter? (Not a place where you're safe from pain, that's a different matter.) In the Bible God gives Adam a woman (he creates sex and gives the sexes to each other) as a 'helper'. He makes Eve out of Adam's flesh. In other words, he separates Adam into two people. And the story of everyday since then has been the attempt by mankind to reunify those two halves. Alone I feel like I'm only half. Together I feel whole.

Johnny Cash wrote a song called Flesh And Blood. It's about June, his wife. These are the lyrics:

Beside a Singin' Mountain Stream
Where the Willow grew
Where the Silver Leaf of Maple
Sparkled in the Mornin' Dew
I braided Twigs of Willows
Made a String of Buckeye Beads.

But Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need
Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need.

I leaned against a Bark of Birch
And I breathed the Honey Dew
I saw a North-bound Flock of Geese
Against a Sky of Baby Blue
Beside the Lily Pads
I carved a Whistle from a Reed;
Mother Nature's quite a Lady
But you're the one I need
Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need.

A Cardinal sang just for me
And I thanked him for the Song
Then the Sun went slowly down the West
And I had to move along
These were some of the things

On which my Mind and Spirit feed;
But Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need
Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need

So when this Day was ended
I was still not satisfied
For I knew ev'rything I touched
Would wither and would die
And Love is all that will remain
And grow from all this Seed;

Mother Nature's quite a Lady
But you're the one I need
Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need.

Do we have an answer to the question, "Was Johnny Cash a mommy's boy?" I'd say "Yes", but so are we all. There's a bit of the mother/nurturer in every wife and a bit of the father/provider/protector in every husband. Marriage is a complex ball of string. The parties to a marriage supply each others' needs in so many ways. No wonder it's hard to make a marriage work!

THE FULL TEXT OF MAN OVERBOARD IS AVAILABLE ON THE FIRST POST OF THIS BLOG.

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