The celebrated son of the late Johnny Cash takes us on an emotionally rich musical journey.
As soon as we sat down in the Nashville office of his publicist, I could not resist asking John Carter Cash this question about his terrific new album, Pineapple John: “How would you respond to the compliment — and I do mean this as a compliment — that this is the greatest Jimmy Buffett record that Jimmy Buffett never recorded?”
John smiled, then laughed out loud, and finally replied: “Man, I don’t know. Thank you very much. That’s about all I can say. For me, it’s a little bit more like Pink Floyd went dancing with Jimmy Buffett. But, yeah, this record has been a journey for me, so I’m honored by that compliment.”
Actually, there’s a Jimmy Buffett vibe all throughout Pineapple John, which is now available just about everywhere you access your favorite music. But there are lots of other allusions here, like a reference to Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” and a cover of “Jamaican Farewell,” the tune written by Lord Burgess (Irving Burgie) that was a 1950s hit for Harry Belafonte. It all comes together in a irresistibly fascinating and immensely entertaining thematic album, with the disparate tunes providing an engrossing narrative arc.
Produced by Cash and Trey Call, Pineapple John explores themes of love, loss, redemption, and self-discovery. “The full album is a reflection of life’s struggles and triumphs,” Cash says, “and I can’t wait to share it with the world.”
Here are some other highlights from my conversation with John Carter Cash, edited for brevity and clarity.
C&I: How did you map all of this out? I mean, what do you think was your overarching theme?
John: It started with just around Coronavirus time. My son Jack and I were in the car, and he was just sort of beating on the dashboard with a certain rhythm, and I started “Pineapple John.” I started singing that, and then he helped me write a few more lines, and then I wound up writing the song sort of spontaneously.
C&I: And then?
John: Well, like I say, the song “Pineapple John” sort of came together piecemeal really fast and spontaneously, conceptually. Then I think a lot more appeared in my head all at once as a story. I saw this as a tale about this sort of washed-up songwriter who was always eternally chasing the girl, and never found her, and then was sort of lost in his own head and his own dreams a whole lot. And I sort of put myself there.
C&I: How long did you stay there?
John: The majority of the album was written within a two-and-a-half, three-week period. Pretty much all the songs, in a great sort of a creative flush. When I had the concept, all of the ideas came to me at once, so I started calling some of my best friends. Bill Miller, a Native American artist friend of mine came in and wrote “Sleeping with the Mermaids” with me. And I think it may have been the next day that Brandon Young came over, and he and I wrote “Ocean Calling.” And then I began adding more music here and there, and then stacking vocals, and then adding more guitars and whatnot.
But I think the concept really sank in when I did the “Uncle Ben, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.” When I wrote that, I saw the depth and the distance of it. And then I was listening to Steven Sondheim and inspired by his chord progressions. That’s sort of how some of the musical pieces came together, with some Steven Sondheim and a lot of Elton John.
C&I: There are some cuts that sound like they’re dramatically part of the overall vision. But a few — and again, I mean this as a compliment — that stand alone quite potently. “Man Will Pray” is a song that could be sung in a church — and in a bar. And it would be appropriate in either place.
John: Thanks. Yeah, I grew up in Jamaica, and so I was dancing with the idea of writing something that had some poi in it, some Jamaican phrases in it that I would sing. I’m not trying to sound like I’ve got a Jamaican accent, but I used Jamaican phrases from the local dialect. And it’s still tied in with the theme of the album. I think it’s all a matter of the sin and redemption of the main character. To me, he may have a grasp on that redemption. But I don’t know — at the end, I think he’s on a raft floating away into the ocean, chasing after the mermaid. At least, that’s sort of how I see the end of the whole thing.
C&I: We all know that art isn’t always autobiography. But I can’t help but think you were exposing a lot of yourself in some of these songs. Maybe not necessarily your literal self, but maybe what you fear is yourself — or what you hope will be.
John: Or a lot of what I have been before. And that I can go back to if I don’t remember. Yeah, because it’s all about self-discovery. The album is all about remembering those dark places. You know what I mean? A lot of it is about remembering how I can fall down those holes and not be able to get back out without remembering that man will pray. And that I can pray, and I can respect and appreciate God and the Mother, which is what the song says. So it’s all there. But yeah, I got lost in this album. I did. I got lost in it, but in a way that sort of pulled me back in home. It brought me back in home and helped me remember some of those possible pitfalls.
C&I: Finally, I’m going to put you on the spot here. Which of the songs on this album would you love to have heard your father, Johnny Cash, sing on one of his own albums?
John: Oh, he probably could have sung “Snow in the Sand.” Or “Ocean Calling,” I’d say that would’ve worked for dad. I think it has that sort of breadth of intensity. And I think he probably would’ve loved “Man Will Pray.” That’s more in line with something that thematically he would’ve appreciated.
Editors Note: You can read more about John Carter Cash and “Pineapple John” in our January 2026 issue.
