Journal for the Study of Radicalism

Jonathan Silverman
A "Dove with Claws"?: Johnny Cash as Radical
Journal for the Study of Radicalism - Volume 1, Number 2, 2008, pp. 91-106

Michigan State University Press

Jonathan Silverman - A "Dove with Claws"? Johnny Cash as Radical - Journal for the Study of Radicalism 1:2 Journal for the Study of Radicalism 1.2 (2007) 91-106 Muse Search Journals This Journal Contents A "Dove with Claws"? Johnny Cash as Radical Jonathan Silverman Pace University In 1969, Johnny Cash told the story about his involvement in the Vietnam War in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Madison Square Garden. He recounted a conversation he had with a reporter after Cash returned from visiting troops in Vietnam. "That makes you a hawk, doesn't it?" Cash says the reporter asked. Cash told the audience that he answered, "'No, no, that don't make me a hawk.' But I said if you watch the helicopters bring in the wounded boys, and then you go into the wards and sing for 'em and try and do your best to cheer 'em up, so they can get back home, it might make you a dove with claws." He then launched into a cover of Ed McCurdy's "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream," a song about ending war. The image of a "dove with claws" is striking -- the symbol of peace fused with a symbol of aggression. On some level, the image makes little sense -- Cash later called the metaphor "stupid"--as indeed doves already have claws; it's the equivalent of talking about a dog with paws. But as an imaginary symbol, perhaps a small peaceful bird with oversize claws, ready to defend or attack as necessary, it works better. This problematic metaphor is apt for Cash's own ventures...