1 of Johnny Cash’s Famous Quotes Used to ‘Piss Shel Silverstein Off’ 

Johnny Cash and Shel Silverstein were in the same circles, with Silverstein even writing one of Cash’s hit songs. Still, Cash used to frustrate Silverstein with the way he spoke about the anti-war movement. Cash spoke about being a “dove with claws.” Silverstein wished he framed the anti-war movement differently. 

Johnny Cash irritated Shel Silverstein with one of his quotes

Cash coined the phrase “dove with claws” to refer to fierce pacifism in the face of endless war. According to Kris Kristofferson, this phrase used to irritate Silverstein.

“Yeah, that used to piss Shel Silverstein off,” he told Rolling Stone, adding, “That whole ‘dove with claws’ thing. He just thought, ‘What the hell is that?’”

According to Kristofferson, Silverstein believed that Cash should have simply called himself a dove. He thought the image of a dove with claws leaned into the idea that it was weak to support peace.

“‘Cause people would have accepted anything from John,” Kristofferson said. “We knew he was a man. I don’t really think anybody would have called Johnny Cash a p****. But John was conditioned, just like you and me. You really have to get past all of that — where you have enough feeling about what’s right and wrong in the world to not give a s*** about what kind of names anybody throws at you.”

Shel Silverstein wrote 1 of Johnny Cash’s hit songs

In 1969, Cash heard Silverstein perform the song “A Boy Named Sue” at a party. He liked it so much that he asked Silverstein for the lyrics. June Carter Cash encouraged him to perform the song at San Quentin prison.

“I’d only sung it the first time the night before and I read it off as I sang it,” Cash said, per Mental Floss. “I still didn’t know the words. As a last resort, I pulled those lyrics out and laid them on the music stand, and when it came time that I thought I was brave enough, I did the song.”

The song went over incredibly well, so Cash decided to release it as a single. It hit the top of the country charts and became his best-selling single.

Johnny Cash helped Kris Kristofferson get his start in the music industry

Cash and Kristofferson were also friendly. Cash was a major star in the music industry when Kristofferson was trying to gain his footing. He flew a helicopter to Cash’s front yard in order to get him to listen to his music. He had previously given Cash a tape, but the artist hadn’t listened to it.

“I didn’t really listen to them until one afternoon, he was flying a National Guard helicopter and he landed in my yard,” Cash said, per Rolling Stone. “I was taking a nap and June said, ‘Some fool has landed a helicopter in our yard. They used to come from the road. Now they’re coming from the sky!’ And I look up, and here comes Kris out of a helicopter with a beer in one hand and a tape in the other.”

The song was “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” Cash liked it so much that he recorded it himself, thus helping launch Kristofferson to success.