I have had a terrible cold and sore throat this week and consequently I'm able to sing two or three tones lower than I normally could. A perfect opportunity to do some Johnny Cash. The Beast In Me appears on the first American Recordings album and was written by his then son-in-law Nick Lowe. If you're not familiar with Nick Lowe, he is a gifted and orginal songwriter. His haunting version of The Beast In Me appears on Impossible Bird, an album which song to song is one of the consistently best written records I've encountered. Nick Lowe wrote the song specifically for Johnny and at the bottom of this page I've put a link to him talking about how the song came about.
Okay, so here we go. Here's my rendition on accordion
The Beast In Me - Nick Lowe
The beast in me
is caged by frail and fragile bars
restless by day and by night
rants and rages at the stars
God help the beast in me
The beast in me
has had to learn to live with pain
and how to shelter from the rain
and in the twinkling of any eye
might have to be restrained
God help the beast in me
Sometimes he tries to kid me
that he's just a teddy bear
and maybe even manages to vanish in the air
and that is when I must beware
Of the beast in me
that everybody knows
they've seen him out dressed in my clothes
patently unclear
if it's New York or New Year
God help the beast in me
God bless the beast in me
An excellent live version by Johnny in the period following the release of American 1. He was really in a career renaissance at this point, at the height of his powers.
Nick Lowe's version from The Impossible Bird album
Nick Lowe talking about writing The Beast In Me
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