Chicken in Black

[DavidR1991]

"You don't pay tax on money you steal" <- is that some kind of un-subtle reference to his record company or agent? Does seem a bit of a weird thing to say out of the blue

[leebdough]

Something tells me Karl Pilkinton loves this song.

[LiamS92]

Johnny Cash in the 1980s: getting old, getting forgotten, but still sticking his big ole middle finger up at the establishment. Love it!

[twiggy148]

Funny how people take this as a legit song not knowing he wrote it to get out of his recording contract.

[snake845]

love it

[smoku46]

well its still better singing and music composing than mines

[carloak9]

Absolutley hilarious. I loved it. As for the dislikes, if they aren't from Columbia records, they have to be people who have absolutely no sense of humor, WHATSOEVER. Thanks so much for posting this. This was great.

[EggyLad1442]

6 dislikes: 6 members of Columbia records.

[KonataKanonLady]

Yay for the brain whack x)

[moviefact1]

bit weird, innit?

[dementorious]

i love everything johnny cash chose to be.

[jamesstafforduk]

Hmm, something does not ring right about this whole tale. Seems unlikely. Bit of myth making?

[tropicosimcity]

Hahaha... the woman at 2:12 looks so serious, lol

[cutiecakex]

@tropicosimcity ROFL.

[joshuabrooks21]

A rare Cash classic! FUNNY!

[bobbyknightmare]

If that chicken does "Ghost Riders in the Sky," count me in!

[sjappieloveijsj]

I love this, only the title is already making me smile "chicken in black" and than that woman voice "but why you're Johnny Cash" It's just genius xD A true masterpiece, but almost al his work is notable as a masterpiece ;)

[kguyv]

even when he trys to annoy his record lable he is still an amazing singer 5/5

[winniebee112]

he should of cashed in on his comic streak.

[time2playthebest]

Was it just me or was any1 else upset when this song ended

[Emithly]

haha i just read about this in his autobiography!

this is such a great way to be rejected from contract renewal!

[EarlJohn61]

Isn't this the same tune (different lyrics) as 'One piece at a time'?

[zenos12]

YYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHAAAAAA­AWWWWWWW

[macauleyperkins182]

lol my step dad just showed me this vid, and im glad he did this is kick ass

[tannythewood]

That chicken is effing adorable! But then, so is Johnny Cash :)

[royo39neil]

Should have put a big MF on the cape costume!

[BusStopCrew1]

haha i love this and i think it should be re-released it!

[dustobusto]

hahahahaha

I love Johnny Cash.

[breakgive]

I just heard this song for the first time on Saturday. Thanks for posting this. Johnny Cash lives on!

[mciccolella1255]

I like how all these people are afraid of his guitar. & how he randomly changes into a superhero costume. But i love johnny cash! (:

[1cheeza]

@mciccolella1255 johnny cash is an absolute legend aint he

[TheDesertsItalian]

All the bills are ones

[TheDesertsItalian]

He was trying to get out of a record deal, and it ended up being popular. lol

[joshuabrooks21]

"Stick em up everybody, I'm a-robbin' this place, put all of your money in my guitar case, don't nobody scream and nobody reach for that door, an old lady said "You're Johnny Cash, I said No Ma'am, I'm the Manhattan Flash...." A classic chorus from a classic song from a classic singer. This was back when novelty songs were the "In-crowd." I mean, George Jones started out with 'White Lightning", in 1959, and Ray Stevens kept "The Streak" going into the late 1970's. My oh my, where has humor gone?

[ThePhinalPhantasy]

@joshuabrooks21

Good question.

But I've been laughing at Justin Bieber whenever I see him on TV.

[josh4380]

haha this video is hilarious!!

[75freeman]

the chicken in black show was bril, anyone else catch it????

[TheDesertsItalian]

@75freeman I saw it, it was fantastic

[tommygun6644]

That bank robber is fucking huge

[MOLLYryaiMOON]

Wow, I'm horrified. I thought Johnny Cash was sane.

[chrismeister77]

This is such a good song haha

[CoronaTheFatCat]

I read about this video in his autobiography and I just had to look it up!

[windasafriend]

This has always been one of my favorite Cash songs. I had no idea that he did it to annoy his record label. I think it is so unique and creative (not the same old, same old "I love you, why did you leave me, blablabla")

[MOLLYryaiMOON]

You know, this reminds me of those songs "The Streak" and "It's Me Again, Margaret" by Ray Stevens.

[jjfan824]

I love how he says "brain whack"

[teddie488]

No wonder so many people loved JC ...what a guy

[sandladyvb]

Absolutely priceless. Johnny Cash had a great sense of humor and great creativity.

Such a wonderful storyteller. Its a good thing he left us with so much music even though to his fans, it is never enough.

[whoiscuriousgeorge]

According to his second autobio "Cash by Johnny Cash" his heart wasn't in it and he didn't want to work for this particular record label any more, so he made a self-parody he later regretted.

I don't see why he regretted it; this song is a laugh riot! I love that superhero costume he's wearing and Johnny Chicken would make a great sideshow.

[harpozzz]

wall street and congress unplugged!

[EmoGirlDead]

Damn the recording company got pissed when he did thi song and they ended it and then he made so much money off of this song lol fail

[jjfan824]

@ goldenheart96 oh the manhattan flash thanks

[jjfan824]

I'm the man hattin flash? What did he say?

[goldenheart96]

A Lady said, "You're Johnny Cash!", and I said "No Ma'm, I'm the Manhattan Flash, and I'm the best bank robber in New York!" LOL!

[jjfan824]

Hilarious song lmao

[MaximusNYC]

Even when he was being a goof (and trying to annoy his record label), Johnny had a streak of genius.

[jhugh132]

@MaximusNYC SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­OOO TRUE!

[theedge2009]

haha funny video!!!!

Happy Birthday Johnny and R.I.P!!!

[jjfan824]

The most random song I've ever seen. It's almost like the title Chicken in Black is an afterthought. The chorus is about him being a robber.

[CoronaTheFatCat]

In his autobiograpgy he said he made this video to end his contract with a record company he didn't like or something.

[drfernandooscargil]

all

[migrantson]

hahahaha wtf jonny cash? lovin it.

[MissAmpz]

poor chicken pickin at the mic whahaha lol

[soulesslemming]

This was his (successful) attempt at being released from columbia, he spent $500,000 on this video simply to piss of the higher ups at columbia enough to release him.

[paulbuss]

@soulesslemming Its funny like you I know the history of this song/video had to check it out(just read JRC's second autobiography) for my self but its actually alot cooler than I (and Johnny for that matter) thought it was...

[soulesslemming]

lol yea I can remember stupid tidbits like that but not my anniversary go figure LOL

[paulbuss]

lol good call

[poppys309]

o i forgot, chicken in black ummmmm.

[poppys309]

ha when i heard this song, i thought the words were hilarious. still do. give me your diamonds, watches, and rings.ha.

[19leon73]

hahaha Gotta love cash, no wonder they didnt extend his contract ;) good thing to though... He ended up with a better label after that.

[pnejack1]

he didnt mean for this song to be taken seriously, it was done to piss off columbia records, his record lable at the time cos he felt they wer ignorin him, he was takin the piss out of them...still, wotta guy

[littlebearcrying]

haha i love this.. man i miss this guy.. he sure knew what he was doing :) whatta guy he was..

[annie92220]

Absolutely right. Think we can get him back? Lol

[littlebearcrying]

sure why not?? lol.. i think it would be a better world with him then we can elect him as president.. whatcha think?

[annie92220]

Hell Yeah. Lets go get him Lol.

[luckywood]

@littlebearcrying yeah the last time we got a fundamentalist christian in the white house it went brilliantly

[littlebearcrying]

lol... yeah ...

[carolmeister54]

what a guy!!!! mis u

[Braveslide]

The songwriters name is Gary Gentry, although like any song Johnny Cash sung - he made it his own!

[genialegek]

Maybe even funnier than "A boy named Sue"

[FSMaxmotives]

It's great how he's making fun of himself..

[pnejack1]

he's not makin fun of himself, its a protest song

[cellisi]

Only johnny cash could pull this off and still be great

[mrdacy1]

I meant to say I have never heard this song before Saturday. This is prob the 34th time or so since then. GREATNESS

[Sytherow]

Fkin great

[bobb12381]

werecan i get this video to download ??

[pursehappygal]

This is so funny! My mom had this on cassette years ago and I forgot how fun this was.

Thank you for posting this!

[jaymz1990]

same lol, we used to listen to it in the car when i was a kid, used to fucking love it lol

[BLINDMASTER121]

first time i have ever herd this song so so funny also very good

[marcjames86]

pure class, love this song 5 stars

[seanpdineen]

As a wheelchair user, I can tell you, most nureologists are not much smarter than this guy.

[leonvisser]

Hahhaha so funny!

Never heared it before.

[narleypig]

i have always loved this song but had no idea there was a video very kool

[stonerAJ11]

NCI is right, the only reason he wrote this song is to piss off Colombia records and then he was gonna dump em cuz he wasn't happy with how they were treatin him

[MissKateyMartha]

I love this.

he was AMAZING!

[Pulfrey001]

I'm so glad other people realise the brilliance of this song! it's the best! It's not on any of his greatest hits but it's awesome! :D

[Greatsocratesghost]

Not a fan of country, but this is awsome!

[GWVideos22]

hahaha

[NCISguru]

I read in his autobiography that he was trying to parody himself because he was mad that the company he was working for only wanted to use young hot singers.

[roryGsus]

belter.. been listenin to this for years and never knew there was a vid. also, i wonder how many bank robbers wore what looks to be yellow and blue pyjamas complete with cape lol. stylee

[Ridger1978]

This was funny! Thanks Cashfan85 for the share!

[AleksanderHansen]

no wonder he quited at colombia records

[DusttwoDust]

lol omg I had no idea he had made a video for this song :D awesome! Thanks for upload

[TenPoundHammer]

Am I the only person who thinks that this is a takeoff on Ray Stevens' style? Ray used chickens in a lot of his songs and he used the similar sound and AABCCB rhyme pattern. Great stuff though, it's nice to know that even a man like Johnny Cash could laugh at himself now and then.

[IlSuddenDeathIl]

He was a GENIOUS.

[joeyjohnlamb]

best johnny cash song i love it

[purepulp]

This song is hilarious. I just showed it to the people in my class and now they think i'm nuts.

[BessieMorrison]

haha, little guitar and suit on the chicken

[beatleboybob]

This has got to say something about Johnny, i mean if he tries to be crap, and is still good, then well, he is truly great.

[prede89]

so true!!

[B1a2k3e4r]

and well said it is a brilliant song and very funny video

[endangerbravo]

@beatleboybob he wrote this song in an attempt to get himself dropped from Columbia Records.

[otkazom]

Damn, that is a great TRASH song.

[Admirkeeper]

Haha, love this song!

[valhallachuck]

Johnny Cash purposely made this song as bad as he could to get out of his Columbia contract because he felt "invisible" during the 1980's. The song made a modest gain on the charts much to Johnny's chagrin but he was eventually released by Columbia.

[DoNotReanimate]

great song !! Johnny cAsh rulez !!

[furrfish]

Hello Johnny Cash - friends, family, and fans. I am searching for this song in Karaoke format. Have searched hi and low and have had no luck. Does this song exist in Karaoke format? Any leads would be greatly appreciated.

[andomamern]

Ha I heard he wrote this meaning for it to be a crappy song to spite his recording label (who he was having problems with).  Too bad for him everything Johnny Cash touches turns to gold.

[dfarmbrough]

hahaha - it's great that a legend like Cash wasn't above satirising himself

[iamzim01]

nice song lol

[AXZDSEWAS]

Thanks for posting this awesome video.

[canajian]

Great video !! LOL

[redskyraymond]

A lot of people say that he made this song in an attempt to get out of record deal...but I don't know...This came out just one year after he was attacked by an ostrich and went back to the drugs.

[Hikaru809]

He said he made it to get let go by his recording company in his autobiography

[rimo2894]

yeahh, ive actually just finished his autobiography.

and wasnt it from CBS not columbia?!

[Hikaru809]

I can't recall but I think it was Columbia

[Byczko21]

STICK UM UP EVERYBODY..im robbin' this place...put all of your money in my geetar case

[ursmik]

...remember what you see it ain't necesarily me ;>

[IArcAngelI]

Stick um up everybody rofl!!!!!!!

[6anti7anti8emo9]

NICE COMMENT!

[angie1398]

LOVE IT!!!!

[cchavez1]

Fuckin' awesome!

today is the anniversary (20th)? of this single.

he put it out hoping he would get booted of his label..

but that backfired on him when it became a hit(LOL)!

this video is great...

just showz ta go ya:)

[sikalahti]

Johnny made a good joke at music business. He was really great. A cruel joke without being cruel.

[Stomachawk]

One of the funniest videos ever! Only Cash could do this.

[kevinarnold1976]

This is so funny! I love Johnny Cash. He is THE BEST!!!

[lilxlivs]

So funny, and he did it as a joke cos his record deal was finishing and he was sick of it and didn't wanna go back!!

Johnny cash is a legend!!!!!!!!!!

[Remawi]

I love this video ! Thx Johnny Cash

[crubin1974]

I haven't heard this song in over 20 years. I did not even know that there was a video for it. Thanks for posting it.