Johnny Cash’s Collection of Poems Forever Words Being Released as an All-Star Album

Legacy Recordings has announced the Apr. 6 release of Johnny Cash: Forever Words, an album based on Forever Words: The Unknown Poems, a collection of poems, letters, and lyrics from the late country music legend Johnny Cash.

The announcement coincided with the release of an album trailer, included below, featuring contemporary music stars from across the board, including Brad Paisley, Jewel, Elvis Costello and the late Chris Cornell.

The musical project serves as a companion piece to the best-selling collection curated by Carter’s son, John Carter Cash, and legendary music producer Steve Berkowitz, and edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon.

The album is a collaborative effort between Berkowitz and Carter Cash. The project took two years to create as the producers assembled an all-star cast of musicians to create new music to match Cash’s lyrics. The set features collaborations between the late Cash’s friends Kris Kristofferson and Wilie Nelson on “Forever/I Still Miss Someone,” real-life couple Ruston Kelly and Kacey Musgraves on the personal “To June This Morning,” and the first recording in six years by Allison Krauss and Union Station, titled “The Captain’s Daughter.”

When speaking on picking the musicians for the songs, Carter Cash stated:

I picked the artists who are most connected with my father, who had a personal story that was connected with Dad. It became an exciting endeavor to go through these works, to put them together and present them to different people who could finish them in a way that I believed that Dad would have wanted.

Along with John Carter Cash producing the effort, the album was a family affair, as Cash’s daughter Rosanne and step-daughter Carlene Carter contributed to the album by interpreting their father’s words on “The Walking Wounded” and “June’s Sundown,” respectively.

Along with the announcement and trailer release, the album was made available for preorder ahead of its Apr. 6 release date.

While fans of the late country music icon wait for this latest release, see the star-studded tracklisting below.

Johnny Cash: Forever Words Tracklist:
01. Forever/I Still Miss Someone – Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson
02. To June This Morning – Ruston Kelly and Kacey Musgraves
03. Gold All Over the Ground – Brad Paisley
04. You Never Knew My Mind – Chris Cornell
05. The Captain’s Daughter – Alison Krauss and Union Station
06. Jellico Coal Man – T. Bone Burnett
07. The Walking Wounded – Rosanne Cash
08. Them Double Blues – John Mellencamp
09. Body on Body – Jewel
10. I’ll Still Love You – Elvis Costello
11. June’s Sundown – Carlene Carter
12. He Bore It All – Daily and Vincent
13. Chinky Pin Hill – I’m With Her
14. Goin’, Goin’, Gone – Robert Glasper featuring Ro James, and Anu Sun
15. What Would I Dreamer Do? – The Jayhawks
16. Spirit Rider – Jamey Johnson