Jarvis Cocker is not Johnny Cash, though they have the same initials. Cocker and his band Pulp aren’t especially known for covering other people’s tracks, though they’ve done it a few times over the years. I’d say they’re better known for their song “Bad Cover Version,” which is not a bad song or a cover version. When Pulp, fresh off of their incredible reunion album More, joined LCD Soundsystem to cover Heaven 17’s “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thing” in LA a couple of months ago, that at least made sense. But now, Pulp’s first post-More studio release is a cover of a late-period Johnny Cash song, which makes a little less sense, at least until you hear it.
“The Man Comes Around” is one of the last songs that Johnny Cash ever wrote. Cash claimed that the song was inspired by a dream that he had about Queen Elizabeth II. It’s an apocalyptic meditation, full of images taken from the Book Of Revelations, and it served as the sort-of title track from 2002’s American IV: The Man Comes Around, the last album that Cash released during his lifetime. Since its release, “The Man Comes Around” has appeared in a lot of apocalyptic movies, like Logan and the Dawn Of The Dead remake. It is not an obvious choice for a Pulp cover, but they’ve done it anyway.
Pulp’s version of “The Man Comes Around” appeared in the ITV drama The Hack last month, and it’s one of a few More bonus tracks that’ll appear on an upcoming 12″ single, along with two unreleased tracks, “Marrying For Love” and “Cold Call On The Hot Line.” Instead of the spartan acoustic backing that Johnny Cash used for the original, Pulp give the song a bumpy, slightly cheeky easy-listening groove. But I don’t hear a lot of irony in the way Jarvis Cocker delivers it. Instead, he brings his own kind of speak-sing gravitas to those dark visions. Cocker also locks down on the line “kick against the pricks” in what I hear as a Nick Cave homage. Below, check out Pulp’s cover and the Johnny Cash original.
The limited 12″ single “The Man Comes Around” is available only through Rough Trade Shops, and the pre-order starts today.
