“Saints and sinners, all jumbled up in combination.” That is the genius of Johnny Money, and that is the reason what the gospel is in the long run all approximately.
Johnny Money sang approximately and for folks at the margins. He famously performed concert events in prisons, the place he sang each homicide ballads and gospel tunes in the similar set. It is this juxtaposition among gentle and darkish, writes Richard Beck, that makes Money one of the original theologians in reminiscence.
In Trains, Jesus, and Murder, Beck explores the theology of Johnny Money via investigating a dozen of Money’s songs. In reflecting on Money’s lyrics, and the fervour with which he sang them, we achieve a deeper figuring out of the long-lasting religion of the Guy in Black.
