Johnny Cash – Delia’s Gone

First time I shot her
I shot her in the side
Hard to watch her suffer
But with the second shot she died
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

When I first heard this song in the 1990s I did a double-take. Did he sing what I thought he sang? I had never heard the original version he did in the 60s. I do prefer the 1994 version but both are worth a listen.

This song is coming from a man who once had a lyric that stated I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. This song…goes much darker than that.

Johnny Cash originally recorded this song written by Karl Silbersdorf and Dick Toops on his 1962 The Sound of Johnny Cash album.

He re-recorded it in 1994, on American Recordings produced by Rick Rubin. He explained why he chose to redo the song: “‘Delia’s Gone’ is the Devil’s deed of daring, we were talking about ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and ‘I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die’ and I said, ‘I want another song like that.’ So Rick and I started listening and we found ‘Delia’s Gone.’ We realized I had recorded it in the ’60s, but not the way I’ve recorded it on American, and that I should work it up and do it over. So we started working on it and we did it and we came up with this version.”

in 1992, Rick Rubin reached out to Cash with the prospect of releasing a new album of music on his label, American, to which Cash was initially skeptical, but curious. Johnny Cash didn’t know who Rick Rubin was and couldn’t understand why Rubin would want to work with him. Johnny Cash’s sales were not like they were in the 60s and early 70s. Rubin just told him to grab a guitar and sing some songs he would want to do.

That shows you the mindset of some stars…some. Cash was wondering why someone would want to work with him which blows my mind.

Rubin was finally able to convince him to make the album and it was released in 1994. The album marked the beginning of a career resurgence for Cash, who was widely recognized as an icon of American music but whose record sales had suffered during the late 1970s and 1980s

This song was inspired by a true-life story. Late on Christmas Eve, 1900, young lovers Delia Green age 14, and Moses Houston, age 16, attended a party that night.

As usual at parties, Moses had too much to drink. Witnesses say he began to tease Delia, making her angry. He called her his “little wife” and they were not married. This escalated to the point of Delia calling Houston a “Son of a Bitch”, which carried much more weight at that time than it does now. Moses then pulled out a gun and shot Delia in the groin, and he ran away.

Moses was caught by the authorities and not only confessed to the killing but said he would do it again! Delia ended up dying at 3:00 AM Christmas morning. Mr Houston got a life sentence but it ended up shorter. Cooney served 12 1/2 years, the last several years at a facility in Commerce, GA.  He was granted parole in October 1913, by Governor John M. Slaton.

After 120 years without a headstone at her grave…Delia got one in 2020. Here is the article. 

Delia’s Gone

Delia, oh, Delia
Delia all my life
If I hadn’t shot poor Delia
I’d have had her for my wife
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

I went up to Memphis
And I met Delia there
Found her in her parlor
And I tied her to her chair
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

She was low down and trifling
And she was cold and mean
Kind of evil make me want to
Grab my submachine
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

First time I shot her
I shot her in the side
Hard to watch her suffer
But with the second shot she died
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

But jailer, oh, jailer
Jailer, I can’t sleep
‘Cause all around my bedside
I hear the patter of Delia’s feet
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

So if your woman’s devilish
You can let her run
Or you can bring her down and do her
Like Delia got done
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone
Delia’s gone, one more round
Delia’s gone

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

28 thoughts on “Johnny Cash – Delia’s Gone”

  2. I too didn’t realize he’d first done this song long ago. It was interesting to hear it. The 1994 version is so haunting, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, when I got the CD, probably in the early 2000s.

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      1. yeah, seems most of the dark songs like that do (‘Jeremy’ by Pearl Jam another example). No question that Rubin did magic with Johnny though, and that was a big service to music! Had an afterthought after reading it – Johnny was the ‘Man in Black’. The stranglers were ‘the men in black’. Which song will get more people complaining – Johnny singing about killing a woman, or Stranglers singing about staring at women on the beaches?

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      2. LOL…yea that is true about the two! Johnny could get by with it because he was Cash.
        It is a dark song…more than the Reno line also because he shot her twice….but he pays for it being haunted.

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    1. Yes it was…I mean you like metal obviously and I’m sure a lot of your friends at least know Cash…he crossed genres…one of the very few who did….Willie Nelson is another… I’m glad he shot back up before he passed…same with Roy Orbison

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  7. Incredible song by the Man in Black. In terms of the sound, I do like Cash’s original recording, though it has a somewhat upbeat vibe to it, which is a bit weird, given the lyrics. I think the sound and music on the updated version are a better fit.

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  8. I am *so* glad Rubin convinced Johnny to do some new recordings. When I listened to that album and came across the Delia song I was shocked but like Johnny said, he’d already done one about shooting a man in Reno just to watch him die, so why not. *That whole album rocks.* When I look at the true story it was based on and the ages of the kids and that the 16 year old was packin’, it reminded me of my old job. These things are still going on today.

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    1. Can you believe Johnny thought “why does he want to work with me!” That is so crazy.
      Yea it shows you that somethings never change…and yes that stuff is going on today.

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      1. How far are you in the Country series, Max? I am 99% sure Rosanne talks about that time of Johnny’s life in there, where the world seemed to have forgotten him 😦

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      2. I’m on the 5th one now… Loving it! The last one watched had Ray Charles doing I Can’t Stop Loving You in 1963 and Willie Nelson saying he did more for country music than anyone.
        It’s a great series!

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  9. Rick Rubin did the world a service with Johnny Cash and the American Recordings series. This is such a haunting song. I had no clue about the real story behind it, that’s both horrible and somewhat amusing.

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  10. It’s great for someone to literally mark some of the true legends who should not be lost and forgotten, laid in some potters field. A charity worth donating to. Johnny sure did have his hard as flint side.
    Also, Nick Caves ‘Murder Ballads’ is an uplifting and cheery album. 😬 ‘The Kindness Of Strangers’ in particular really sets you up for another depressing day. Jeez, thanks Nick, you happy-go-lucky guy you.

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  11. ‘Jailer, I can’t sleep
    ‘Cause all around my bedside
    I hear the patter of Delia’s feet
    Delia’s gone, one more round’

    These four lines are brilliant.

    It reminds me of what occurs to the protagonist in Woody Allen’s ‘Match Point’ when he thinks he’s gotten away with the Perfect murder.

    I prefer Dylan’s version of another Delia song, but this was pretty darn good.

    Delia (1993) – Bob Dylan

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