Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1984


The Chicken in Black

Buy The Chicken in Black now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = The Chicken in Black

| cover =

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Johnny Cash

| album =

| A-side =

| B-side = "Battle of Nashville"

| released =

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Country

| length =

| label = Columbia Bros. 38-04513

| writer = Gary Gentry

| lyricist =

| composer =

| producer = Billy Sherrill

| prev_title = That's the Truth

| prev_title2 =

| prev_year = 1984

| next_title = They Killed Him

| next_title2 =

| next_year = 1984

| misc =

}}

"'The Chicken in Black'" is a song written by Gary Gentry and originally recorded by Johnny Cash.

Released as a single in 1984 (Columbia 38-04513, with "Battle of Nashville" on the opposite side), the song reached number 45 on U.S. 'Billboard' country chart.

Lyrics



A humorous story song, the lyrics relate how Cash visits his doctor due to persistent headaches and is told that his body has "outlived [his] brain". The doctor performs a brain transplant on Cash, replacing his brain with that of a dead bank robber. When Cash visits a bank, however, his new brain compels him to rob it, and when he performs at the Grand Ole Opry some time later, he robs the audience of their valuables. He calls his doctor and demands his old brain back, but the doctor informs him that it has been transplanted into a chicken. The song ends with Cash warning his friends that if they meet him he might rob them and noting that if they have ten dollars spare they "ought to catch that Johnny Chicken Show".

Track listing



{{Track listing

| headline = 7" single {{nobold|(Columbia 38-04513, 1984)}}

| extra_column =

| total_length =

| all_writing =

| all_lyrics =

| all_music =

| title_width =

| writing_width =

| music_width =

| lyrics_width =

| extra_width =

| title1 = The Chicken in Black

| note1 =

| writer1 = G. Gentry

| lyrics1 =

| music1 =

| extra1 =

| length1 = 2:58

| title2 = Battle of Nashville

| note2 =

| writer2 = J. R. Cash

| lyrics2 =

| music2 =

| extra2 =

| length2 = 3:17

}}

Charts



References






Buy The Chicken in Black now from Amazon

<-- Return to songs from 1984



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1102927081.