Style. The art of dress and wear. Something people include in their lives every single moment of everyday without much thought. Let’s say a person walks into a room wearing bright, neon and very eccentric pieces. You would not be very surprised if they turned out to have a bubbly and upbeat personality.

“Well, you wonder why i always dress in black, why you never see colors on my back”

Lines 1-2

Humans are naturally very objective to other humans simply because each and every individual is different. We judge those who do not speak, think, or dress like us for no reason at all other than the fact that judgments come naturally to our brain. We strive to push out things that do not make sense and only allow sensations of comfort and familiarity.

“Well, there’s a reason for the things I have on”

Line 4

The art of an individual’s style is just that, art. We all have a reason for everything that we wear and it is 100% always directly related to when we feel that comfort sensation. Johnny Cash then leads the entirety of this song explaining all of the many reasons he dresses the way that he does. His style is based on his political and social views:

“I wear black for the poor and the beaten down”

“I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime”

“I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died, Believen’ that we all were on their side.”

Cash is clearly wanting to leave a message to the world without having to voice his opinions everywhere he goes. Instead he leaves his words in his appearance so that every-time anyone looks at him, they might know what he is saying and what he believes in. Fashion is so much more than “finding something cute/ cool”. Why do you think it is stylish? what was it about that specific piece called out to you and made you grab it? What sensation over your body and mind took over your desire to reach out and touch a design in your hands so that you could further understand the garment’s energy?

“Ah, I’d love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything’s OK”

Lines 29-30

Johnny Cash makes it very clear that he wears the emotion of grief and pain on his back everyday because he feels as though it is his duty. He would not only be dishonest to himself, but to the world if he wore a rainbow because his views on the life around him are not sunshine and butterflies. Cash is extremely aware of the suffering and death that is included in life and chooses to embrace it head on by forming his physical appearance to match. His world is a dark place therefore he himself is also a dark man. A man in black.

‘Till things are brighter, I’m the Man In Black.

Line 32