1. Forever/I Still Miss Someone

Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson

Forever. Forever Words. My father, Johnny Cash, was a prolific writer throughout his life. The one thread that remains true throughout my father’s life, even now, still extended, past to that point, is hope. The line of definition that defines Forever Words is hope. It can be no more clearly seen than the piece that begins the album, “Forever.”

My father within the last month of his life after losing my mother, wrote these words, “You tell me that I must perish like the flowers that I cherish. Nothing remaining of my name, nothing remembered of my fame. But the trees that I planted still are young. The songs I sang will still be sung.”

In the midst of those darknesses, my father could find hope. He could look around him and see what had been created. He could look at his grandchildren. He could look at the legacy that remained and find hope.

In the midst of those darknesses, my father could find hope. He could look around him and see what had been created. He could look at his grandchildren. He could look at the legacy that remained and find hope. I reached out to Kris Kristofferson, who was one of my father’s best friends. I reached out to Willie Nelson, also one of dad’s best friends. And I asked them to come together.

I asked Kris if he would recite the words of “Forever” and Willie if he would play “I Still Miss Someone” underneath. Kris, reciting those words of hope is in line with the fact that after all of these years, Kris is also seasoned in life and seasoned as an artist. And the beauty that can be found in finding hope towards the end of one’s physical journey: It’s something that we most certainly will all need, and something that can be found nowhere more evident than in the words of my father’s poem, Forever, spoken by Kris Kristofferson.