Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around” was the only song he said he had ever “overwritten”, spending nine months refining it before deciding which verses to keep. The song mattered because it served as a deeply personal final statement, combining his religious faith with a stark meditation on Judgment Day, redemption and humanity’s darker impulses.

Cash reportedly wrote 25 or 30 verses before settling on the final version, which appeared on *American IV*, the last album released during his lifetime. Its sparse acoustic guitar, restrained delivery and ominous tone create a sense of impending catastrophe, while the song’s spiritual subject reflects Cash’s religious convictions and his ability to make unconventional material feel authentic.