Cash, Johnny - The One On The Right Is On The Left Lyrics

More applicable today than at any time in our history, though sadly perhaps a band like that described in this song could not be allowed to exist because of the rampant and out of control divisiveness.

this song is very pertinent in these modern times, except, that now this band wouldn't exist, because you have to hate people with different political views aparantly.

Great song from the brilliant johnny cash

Always liked this goofy song. These days we need more goofy.

Hate breaking bad news y'all but, anybody singing bout love of country, the right to bear arms, drinking beer, and going to church on Sunday morning.. is being political. Calling into your radio station to ban an artist, boycotting a band, protesting anyone's ability to voice an opinion, cheering for your team during the big game... you're being political. In all reality, there is no such thing as not being political: live in a town, state, tract of farmland, on a boat? You're being political. Everything from the legal age to drink, to crossing state lines, means politics are involved. We live in a political world. You either speak your mind, or someone speaks it for you. Polls of public opinion on any issue don't include how many people kept their mouths shut. The billionaire elite LOVE songs and celebrities who "stay out of politics" and keep their opinions to themselves, unless they agree of course. If they had their way, their votes would be the only ones counted. The enemy isn't loyal to a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or Socialist. They are loyal to themselves. The enemy doesn't arrive by boat, they arrive by limousine. We should have loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government.. when it deserves it.

Nicholas Contreraz no

I am Tyler Amitrano and im 14 and im still listening to Johnny cash in 2019. the Music today sucks and is pure trash. Who else is with me?

That is true im 14 and a norwegian hillbilly.

same and I ain't even American.

I wish Daryl Morey have listened to this song before he became a manager

Hopefully, the guy in the back has Geico. Lol

Fuck geico boy

Do you uninformed people not understand the meaning of this?,It is about SINGING GROUPS getting onstage making POLITICAL STATEMENTS!!!!!

It's amazing how relevant this song is now.

My favorite is when the guy in the rear burns his driver's license, rather than his got drafted.

And the guy in the reeeeeear....
Is a remainer

I heard about this song and it’s message and I had to check it out. A good moral for today for left, right, middle, and methodists( though based on the song they probably already know.)

Thanx USA

Are people in this comment section so fucking retarded that they don't know whats the point of this fucking song

Should be the Dixie Chicks theme song!

Arguably, the most underrated Johnny Cash songs

the guy in the rear was a libertarian

please tell the actors and singers to bugger off when they start spouting their liberal political views - real people arent interested - same goes for their sjw view

Darren Steeves same goes with conservatives view

@dheril rana Sure, I could agree with keeping all politics out of where it doesn't belong. Even the right which I generally agree with. But c'mon, how many famous people are openly conservative?

It's common knowledge to not bring up politics. beyond the insolubility of politics it's really easy to talk about.

Such a catchy song

This song can basically be applied to the Labour Party here in the UK. None of them ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’ so to speak. All in the same gang but they can’t agree on anything, and therefore are rendered useless.

My Friend, publisher, & mentor, Jack Clement wrote this in the '60's. True today. I've come within 1/2 in. of being called Un-American because I refuse to let MY political convictions known. STRANGE--Seems like I got a similar response when I returned from Viet Nam W/Bronze Star, Purple Heart, 2 Presidential unit citations, & 8 other combat awards. Go Figure?

Thanks, Bob , for your service and naming the genius who wrote this song. What hasn't been mentioned is that all sides and the middle loved this song at the time, which, very evenly, poked fun at all of them.!

Don't go mixin' Politics with the Folk Songs of our Land. Truer words were never sung.

awesome!

This guy served 2 masters. No man can serve 2 masters.

This song came to me at just the right moment. I'm slowly getting tired of all this political BS.

FUCK THE LEFT

I agree, but that's the opposite of what this song is about...

I am proud to say that I burned my draft card during the Vietnam war. It is better to burn a draft card than to go to war and burn babies like American soldiers did in Vietnam.

They performed with great virtuosity, but sang political animousity prevailed on the stage, a hush fell on the crowd! And the guy on the Rear Said, Oh Dear! A Teller- Truck Driver, a DJ and the Methodist got Drafted to Vietnam...

world muscle fack

Is this supposed to be The Weavers?

The moral of the story is to keep your politics to yourself (“political incompatibility led to their downfall . . . political animosity prevailed upon the stage . . . Just work on harmony and diction, play your banjo well, and if you have political convictions, keep them to yourself). Jesus, it’s amazing how people interpret what they want to out of this, and somehow take it as an endorsement of conservatism.

No, it is you that feels that way. I see it as the lyrics as they were written. It says “Don’t bug us. We paid for entertainment, not a lecture.”. I am now shunning the theatre and modern music because of it, and I can’t watch NFL FOOTBALL either. Some of my military family members paid the ultimate price. I do still watch baseball at times.

It's the best song of Johnny cash song am I right

I know some celebrities and organizations in today’s world that need to hear this song. Your job as a music artist or sports icon or actor or actress is to entertain, nobody cares about your political beliefs, so don’t share them. Our country has made everything out to be a political issue and look where it got us, we’re more divided than we’ve been since The Civil War. Why can’t people just stop worrying about wether a republican or democrat is in office and start doing their part to help our nation move forward? People forget that politicians were never intended to run the country.

Thanks for posting. I was about 7 when this came out and it brings back good memories.

Thanks for posting this!

I love how he says to let this be a lesson and yet songs continue to be political

HAHA funny song, i Live in Brazil And here we have a political fight Very serious

And the guy in the rearrrrrrrr drives a Prius.

FreeLantz78 ha! I thought he drove a Ford!

FreeLantz78. Lol....drinks recycled coffee....yuuuuum

YOU PROB DRIVE ONE FUCK OFF

@TheParanormalGamingNetwork Buddy, don't get your panties in a bunch. And learn to write properly.

I'm 1000th like

@countrygirl countrymusiclover Rude.

and the guy in the rear had a heart attack

The republican kicked the shit out of everybody at the end haha

But, in the end, the folk group still didn't work out too well.

"The one on the right was on the bottom."

The one on the right was on the left. It really gets confusing and mixed up.

@oogrooq The one on the right was on the left as well as on the bottom.

Pretty deep

One of Johnny's BEST.

Of course, the folk songs of our land are incredibly political.

Nancy Benefiel. Yeah but singing and making speeches.....or is it to hard for a liberal to grasp??...Probably not...

dude, all he said was, that folk sings wernt writen to be political and tha ttheir incredibly polical message, heared by the whole nation was sarcasm by Cash too.

lets hear it once again, because you clearly didnt hear him, when you HAD to talk ONCE AGAIN about " the evil liberals". 2:20

@packingten The problem with politics is the liberals and conservatives attacking each other all the time.

Sometimes political, rarely partisan, mostly patriotic.

@The Dude >The problem with politics is that people have different opinions
Imagine being this fucking dumb.

I like how the guy in the rear just doesn't give a damn.

And in delicious irony, he ends up drafted into the army, where he is required by regulations to give a damn. :D

@VA preppernewb Oh, irony, the cruel mistress...

he had a girlfirend

lol and i like your user name :D

you hear him toby hank jr sing your songs and keep your politics to yourself

I think they have a right too.

what a great singer.love all his tunes.

That a tell them Johnny Cash... God Bless you and your fans

The ironic thing is that folk groups of that day were pretty much on the same page politically.

My favorite is when the guy in the rear burns his driver's license, rather than his draft card.  

Thatsthejoke.jpg

i wouldnt say, that it was not political what break them apart, because one had to stuff it in, justin Bester..i would say it was hard, like in every society to make a gab between economy/social/moral and political things in music. everyone know that from family gathering and the struggle to not talk about politcs.....and for some "policial left music" it was never about politcs, but allways simply about a better way of living in that world etc. the same happend on the right side, when they speak about nationalism and not about politics.

I'm proud to say that I burned my draft card during that junk war in Vietnam.

@Vince Are you making a joke that I don't get, or are you actually saying Washington was doing something pointless?

I AGREE LOL

This song is funny.  

I love this song.

John missed on this one, but it was a product of the times It might have been done during one of his religiously ignorant periods. Most folk songs are political.  That's why they were /are folk songs.  They were sung by folks upset at the politics of the day.  E.g. 'Clementine', 'Red River Valley", "Tom Dooley", "This Land is your land", "Maid of constant Sorrow", "Sounds of Silence",  "Where did you sleep last night," could be considered 'folk songs." The people I, in my limited circle consider, current folk singers include Tim Minchin, and Tom Paxton.  There are more whose names are not at hand.

And MOST groups that sing politically motivated songs have a similar outlook to each other...

Yes but John was not the one who wrote this song. It was written by Jack Clement for John's Everybody Loves A Nut album.

You're a poet when you're shut.

if you dont like religion dont listen to cash... go be an atheist where nothing matters. get with the times atheist are the smallest percentage

"Religiously ignorant" What do you mean?

It is " burned his drivers licence" That is merely a reference to burning his draft card for Vietnam. The times were far too tense politically for him to be able to say it openly :-)

jennifer morris thanks I didn’t get it when I first heard it

No, he siad the guy got drafted. The guy in the back was making a statement on not having anything to say

I feel bad for the guy in the rear...

Elton John doesn't...

What is this song ?

I can tell you why he burned it... He noticed they got his birth date wrong. So he went to the dmv to get a new one. He didn't need the old one anymore, so he burned it. Case closed.

He wouldn't really burn it, but that's the point. The guy in the rear is the apolitical one, so he makes an absurd apolitical gesture like burning his driver's licence, as opposed to burning his draft card like lots of 60s anti-war protesters.

find the right cup,

It was a form of protest in the 60's. Which is obviously something you are clueless about. "Earned his driving license" wouldn't make any sense in this song. Burned his license is correct.

It's "earned his driving license". Why would he burn it?

Daniel Howard. Well Daniel old chap ...look up the lyrics....he BURNED them....

@packingten but why did he burn his drivers license?

In the 60s anti war people would burn their draft cards as a form of protest but the guy in the rear isn't too bright and instead burned his driver's license by mistake. Which is why in the final verse he gets drafted. It's actually pretty clever if you know the history behind it.

same here lol

yea he was

You seem to be missing the point of the fuckin' song...

First Johnny Cash song I ever heard

I used to listen to this when I was in my teens all alone in the children's home dining room listening to my records oh man brings back memories
as all we have in the end of the day is our memories

In a lot of cases, yes, folk songs ARE political in nature. But remember what Louis Armstrong said when asked if he was abandoning jazz for folk music: "All music is folks music. I ain't never heard no horse singin' no music."

I think it's subtle satire. Johnny Cash was good at that kind of thing.

johnny cash diggin out the thesaurus

Excellent!! Been years since I heard this song played!!

I had forgotten about this song. It's very funny.

I disagree with the conclusion, though since many of "the folk songs of our land" (any land) are political in nature.

Maybe so- but keep'em to yourself!