Strawberry Cake (song)

"Strawberry Cake" is a song written and originally recorded by Johnny Cash for his 1976 live album Strawberry Cake.

"Strawberry Cake"
Single by Johnny Cash
from the album Strawberry Cake
B-side"I Got Stripes"
Released1976 (1976)[1]
GenreCountry
LabelColumbia 3-10279
Songwriter(s)J. R. Cash
Producer(s)Charlie Bragg[2]
Johnny Cash singles chronology
"Texas 1947"
(1975)		 "Strawberry Cake"
(1976)		 "One Piece at a Time"
(1976)
Audio
"Strawberry Cake" (live) on YouTube

Released in a live version as the first and only single from the album,[2][3][4] the song reached number 54 on U.S. Billboard's country chart for the week of March 13, 1976.[5][6] The B-side contained a live version of "I Got Stripes" from the same album.

Content

It is a story song.[7]

In "Strawberry Cake," a former farm worker who has now migrated to the city steals cake from the decadent Plaza Hotel in New York City in frustration over his hunger and dislocation. Cash's lyrics describe the man's time as a strawberry picker in California as "hard work with no future" (just as Cash had worked briefly as a strawberry picker in Arkansas after graduating high school). The lyrics criticize the opulence of the hotel by juxtaposing it with the man's starvation, highlighted by the irony that the man cannot afford to buy the very food that he himself harvested.

— Leigh H. Edwards. Johnny Cash and the Paradox of American Identity[8]

Critical response

In the opinion of Greg Laurie, the author of the book Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon, "Cash's late 1970s output—'The Last Gunfighter Ballad', 'Look at Them Beans', 'Strawberry Cake', and 'The Rambler'—was stale and out of touch."[9]

Track listing
7" single (Columbia 3-10279, 1976)[2]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Strawberry Cake"J. R. Cash3:04
2."I Got Stripes"J. R. Cash, C. Williams2:00

Charts
Chart (1976) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[10] 54

References
  1. "Strawberry Cake (Live)". Johnny Cash Official Site. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  2. "Johnny Cash - Strawberry Cake | Releases". Discogs. 1976. Retrieved 2021-10-02. 3-10279 ... // JOHNNY CASH STRAWBERRY CAKE -J.R. Cash- Taken From The Columbia Lp: "STRAWBERRY CAKE" KC 34088 Produced by Charlie Bragg // JOHNNY CASH I GOT STRIPES -J.R. Cash - C. Williams- Taken From The Columbia Lp: "STRAWBERRY CAKE" KC 34088 Produced by Charlie Bragg
  3. Peter Lewry (2001). I've Been Everywhere: A Johnny Cash Chronicle. Helter Skelter. ISBN 978-1-900924-22-1.
  4. John L. Smith (1994). The Johnny Cash Record Catalog. p. 10. ISBN 9780313295065.
  5. "Johnny Cash". Billboard.
  6. "Hot Country Songs Chart (The week of March 13, 1976)". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  7. Melton Alonza McLaurin, Richard A. Peterson (1992). You Wrote My Life. p. 142. ISBN 9782881245480.
  8. Leigh H. Edwards (2009). Johnny Cash and the Paradox of American Identity. ISBN 978-0253220615.
  9. Greg Laurie (20 August 2019). Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon. ISBN 9781621579809.
  10. "Johnny Cash Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
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