The Man Comes Around

Johnny Cash, from the album American IV

And I heard as it were the noise of thunder
One of the four beasts saying "Come and See", and I saw
And behold a white horse

There's a Man going around taking names
And he decides who to free and who to blame
Every body won't be treated all the same
There will be a golden ladder reaching down
When the Man comes around

The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and each sup
Will you partake of that last offered cup?
Or disappear into the potter's ground
When the Man comes around

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers, one hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling and voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
Its alpha and omega's kingdom come
...And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree

The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks

Till Armageddon no shalam no shalom
Then the father hen will call his chickens home
The wise man will bow down before the throne
And at his feet they'll cast the golden crowns
When the man comes around

Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still
Whoever is righteou,s let him be righteous still
Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still
Listen to the words long written down
When the Man comes around

Hear the trumpets hear the pipers, one hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling, voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
Its Alpha and Omega's kingdom come
And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks

In measured hundred weight and penny pound
When the man comes around

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts
And I looked and behold, a pale horse
And it's name it said on him was Death
And Hell followed with him.
(John R. Cash)
Zach Snyder's Dawn Of The Dead is my favorite film this year, due partly to the use of this song in the film's opening act...I've not heard Cash used better, ever, in film. The spoken word intro and closing, send chills down my spine...a great way to open his American IV album.