Johnny Cash — American VI: Ain't No Grave

Ain't No Grave is a truly spooky album. Johnny Cash cut the disc during the final months of his life while he was battling cancer, and June Carter Cash, his wife, passed away while he was recording it.

These songs are some of the final tunes Cash recorded, and they once again feature Cash covering tunes by artists like Sheryl Crow and Kris Kristofferson.

It would be far too easy to morbidly interpret Cash's choice of songs as his anticipation of his own death. It's indeed spine-tingling to hear him spit out lines like "ain't no grave that can hold me down" and to listen to him sing about leaving the world on "Satisfied Mind." His version of Tom Paxton's "I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound" becomes especially poignant when you consider the context in which Cash's rendition was recorded.

But it's on "I Corinthians 15:55," Cash's final self-penned tune, that his legacy becomes clear. When he gently sings, "Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory?" Cash proves he will never be confined to any grave and he's truly cheated death.

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