From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

The collision and intertwining of strings reverberated in the air, light and cheerful, bright and sorrowful. The unrestrained, surging notes crashed into each other, and sparks of fire proudly bloomed. The whole world began to spin, like a skirt swirling with the dance, fluttering freely.

Everything was so simple, so pure.

Standing in the crowd, Hunter couldn't help but hold his breath, staring intently at the monitor screen, afraid of missing any detail; yet, amidst the surging and blooming of the music, he slowly closed his eyes, listening intently, using his ears, his heart, his soul to feel the melody dancing on his skin.

Lightness. Joy. Delight. Happiness—

Simply because of enjoying the performance.

Bitterness. Sorrow. Sigh. Helplessness—

The complexity hidden behind the melody slowly spread on the tip of his tongue.

This was the magic of music.

Hunter wouldn't say that this was Johnny Cash. He knew and clearly recognized that this was not Johnny Cash, but truly excellent music possesses a soul, inherited from Johnny Cash and proudly blooming with its own soul as the soil, interpreting and performing with a brand new and unique charm.

Perhaps, this wasn't Johnny Cash, but it was still good music.

A surge of emotion welled up in his chest.

In fact, Hunter had originally planned to raise an objection—

Were the production team outsiders? Had they not investigated thoroughly?

Johnny went to Sun Records for an audition, his gospel music was rejected, but he still impressed the legendary Sam Phillips with an original song.

That song was "Cry, Cry, Cry," another legendary track, and also Johnny's first single released by Sun Records.

Not "Folsom Prison Blues." To be precise, that song was released in 1955, two years from now, and it fully launched Johnny's peak.

Hunter could understand why the production team chose "Folsom Prison Blues." This song played a very important role in Johnny's career and was also an important landmark defining Johnny's career, widely circulated; but the production team did not respect the facts, nor did they respect Johnny. In Hunter's view, this was a pity.

If Hunter didn't know, then it would be fine.

The point was that this was not a secret among Johnny Cash's fans; many people knew it.

Hunter believed that the movie would face a lot of criticism after its release—

Disrespect for the facts.

If the main creative team arbitrarily changed the lives of real people and fabricated stories, then why bother making a biographical film?

Others aside, Hunter was not satisfied. He didn't like others casually changing Johnny Cash's life, at least the part he knew.

But now?

Hunter calmed down, immersed in the melody, letting his thoughts wander.

Those melodies, those performances, even without singing, could convey the passion and enthusiasm outlined by the strings, making people's blood boil.

In a daze, Hunter understood something.

Everything, just as Sam Phillips said, he longed to see the edges and colors of Johnny Cash. If this was the most important song in Johnny Cash's life, if this was the song Johnny Cash presented to God, if this was the song that defined Johnny Cash as a singer—

Then, it should be "Folsom Prison Blues."

In this song, not only was Johnny's musical talent displayed, but also Johnny's courage and conviction, as well as the world Johnny saw in his growing up—

We are always accustomed to resisting those painful and dark memories, but the most cruel and absurd fact of reality is that it is precisely these pains that achieve the final self, polishing and carving out the edges of oneself bit by bit; at the same time, the best soil for artistic creation is also those pains and sorrows.

Happiness often fails to give birth to truly great works of art.

Only suffering. Suffering is the breeding ground for art.

Therefore, daring to face one's own wounds and darkness is what gave birth to the most beautiful and moving works of Johnny Cash's career.

It was precisely because of this that the "Walk the Line" production team chose this song as Johnny's audition piece, not because it was the most famous or the most important, but because it could see the real Johnny.

Moreover, this was also an important turning point in the first half of Johnny's musical career, representing his maturity and transformation in terms of creation.

Everything had a reason.

What's more, the performance in front of him was so moving and so sincere that Hunter couldn't help but immerse himself in it, wandering uncontrollably in the melody.

It had been six months since Johnny Cash passed away, but for Hunter, it was still a difficult fact to accept. He missed Johnny's performances. He missed listening to Johnny's songs live. He missed the times when Johnny used music to soothe his soul.

Until this moment.

Those notes, those melodies, like a gentle stream, flowed along the grooves of his heart, gently and delicately healing those wounds hidden in the corners, the slight tingling made Hunter's eyes well up with warmth, as if he had rediscovered the emotion of listening to Johnny Cash live.

Hunter looked a little embarrassed.

But unexpectedly, Hunter noticed that the surrounding crowd had all quieted down, no noise, no irritability, no impatience, nothing. Everyone was intently watching the monitor, even if they couldn't see the screen clearly, they pricked up their ears and listened attentively, immersed in the music.

Those faces didn't lie.

The world was silent, only the melody came from Sun Records, melodious and moving.

Time flowed slowly, but it was difficult to tell whether it was flowing forward or backward. In a daze, it seemed to return to half a century ago.

An ordinary morning, a salesman changed into his black shirt, nervously and cautiously went to Sun Records, holding his musical dreams but ashamed to say it, woodenly and shyly giving himself a chance, standing in front of a complete stranger, performing his creation—

Before this, he had never performed for any stranger, including his wife and his best band members, but he finally took a step.

The rest was history.

It can be imagined that on that morning half a century ago, no one noticed this scene, even if they noticed, they didn't care; but on this morning half a century later, people stood by the long river of time, witnessing the birth of history with their own eyes, that kind of magic, that kind of beauty, uncontrollably surging in their hearts.

The melody was still playing.

The performance was still continuing.

Unconsciously, the boundary between reality and drama had completely disappeared. Whether it was a movie or life, no one noticed, and no one cared.