Rosanne Cash on the gift her father, Johnny Cash, gave her

Dave Davies (0:00)

This is Fresh Air. I'm Dave Davies. This Labor Day, we're going to revisit a 2009 interview Terry Gross recorded with singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash.

Back in 1973, when she was 18, her father Johnny Cash gave her a list of 100 essential country songs he thought she needed to know. At the time, she was more interested in writing her own songs than interpreting the songs of others. But decades later, she returned to her father's list and recorded 12 of the songs on it. The 2009 album is called Naturally, The List.

Terry's interview started with Cash's version of Sea of Heartbreak. Bruce Springsteen sings with her on this one.

Terry Gross (1:35)

Rosanne Cash, welcome back to Fresh Air.

Rosanne Cash (1:37)

Well, thank you, Terry.

Terry Gross (1:39)

Tell me why you wanted to record this record. Let's get to the whole list in a second, but of all those songs on the list.

Dave Davies (1:45)

Why CF Heartbreak?

Rosanne Cash (1:46)

Why CF Heartbreak? It's kind of a perfectly constructed country song, and it was on the list, so that gave me permission. And it embodies that longing that is in so much of country music really, really well. And beyond that, it takes a metaphor and carries it to the very end without breaking that narrative about the metaphor, without becoming kitschy, which a lot of songs do.

And that's kind of perfect to me, and it's also, it makes it a bit of a period piece, because you don't hear many modern songs that do that. And there's also some language in it that's not modern, you know, when he says, divine and my dear. These are kind of old school ways of talking, and I really enjoy that. So it was like stepping into a period piece.

At the same time, it has the hallmark of every great song, which is that it transcends time. It has a timeless quality to it, and it feels very modern.

Terry Gross (2:54)

It's amazing. The lyric was written by Hal David, who wrote the lyrics for so many Burt Bachrach songs. So he's not exactly Mr. Country Music, Mr. Nashville.

Rosanne Cash (3:02)

No, and I myself thought that Don Gibson had written it because he had the early definitive version of the song, and then found out that Hal David and Paul Hampton wrote it in New York. It was a huge surprise.

Terry Gross (3:15)

Your father has a good recording of this.

Rosanne Cash (3:17)

He does. Not being disloyal, but I have to say I still prefer the Don Gibson version.

My dad recorded his version with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on Unchained, and he might have been a little too energized from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Terry Gross (3:40)

Now you have Bruce Springsteen singing with you on this one. Is he a friend?

Rosanne Cash (3:45)

No, I couldn't call him a friend. I've met him a few times over the years, but it would be presumptuous to say he's a friend.

Terry Gross (3:52)

Why did you ask him to do it on this song?

Rosanne Cash (3:54)

Because he's just a dream date, Terry.

We knew we wanted to do a duet. So I did my part on Sea of Heartbreak. We went, God, who's the perfect person to ask to sing on this song? Who's like the embodiment of American romantic male voice? Well, that would be Bruce Springsteen. So we asked him.

Terry Gross (4:19)

And he said yes.

Rosanne Cash (4:20)

He said yes. I thought, oh, there's a 50-50 chance Bruce will do it. And then he knew the song. He got the concept of The List. He's so steeped in country music anyway, in roots music. So it was an easy thing for him, I think.

Terry Gross (4:34)

So let's get the story of The List. Your album is called The List and there's a story behind it. So would you tell the story?

Rosanne Cash (4:43)

Yeah. When I was 18 years old, I went on the road with my dad after I graduated from high school. And we were riding on the tour bus one day, kind of rolling through the south. And he mentioned a song. We started talking about songs and he mentioned one and I said, I don't know that one. And he mentioned another. I said, I don't know that one either, Dad. And he became very alarmed that I didn't know what he considered my own musical genealogy.

And I was very steeped in pop and rock music and I grew up in Southern California. So he spent the rest of the afternoon making a list for me. And at the end of the day, he said, this is your education. And across the top of the page, he wrote 100 essential country songs.