Dennis Hopper reads a poem on The Johnny Cash Show

From "The Johnny Cash Show," September 30, 1970. As Mr. Hopper points out prior to his impassioned recitation, "if" is the middle word in life.

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[abargle]

@howardb02 I know! There is an official "Best Of" collection out there, but trust me, they only skimmed the surface. But I bought it for the video quality anyhow. Recommended!

[deanhamilton]

How are you going to NOT give Kipling credit. HE acted like he wrote it. Thats BS

[abargle]

He probably meant to mention Kipling and forgot. Dennis was high as a kite at this period of his life. Considering how wrecked he almost certainly was, I thought it was a valiant performance.

[DJ Riley]

Bravo, Dennis! Excellent recitation! You will be missed.

[BeerGogglesReviews]

He also made exceedingly good cakes. He had a poetic licence with the original words of Kipling too, but most importantly he had a poetic licence. The poem is the vehicle for the emotions. Drive on Dennis.

[jackieevans]

wow

[Austin Hopper]

If only I was related

[Richard Johnstone]

Compare this to a reading of the same poem by an older Dennis Hopper: v=ySRA0cNICuY

[fimetic]

That's close enough I suppose. It might been nice to hear it as Kipling wrote it, nothing omitted nothing added :)

[snowmchristv]

sorry never mind, thank you anyway

[wasteland70]

I wish I'd seen this when I was 16 or 20. This is immortal.

[Grady Philpott]

Hopper probably didn't mention Kipling by name because he butchered the poem "If"as Kipling wrote it.

Nonetheless, the license notwithstanding, it was a powerful performance and a testament to Hopper's talent.

[slimturnpike]

i thought he said "one turn of pigeon toss," which sounded cool. till i looked it up ...