Dark as a Dungeon

"Dark as a Dungeon" is a song written by singer-songwriter Merle Travis. It is a lament about the danger and drudgery of being a coal miner in a shaft mine. It has become a rallying song among miners seeking improved working conditions.

The song achieved much of its fame when it was performed by Johnny Cash in his Folsom Prison concert (At Folsom Prison). During this live performance, one of the prisoners in the background was laughing, and Cash started to chuckle. He gently admonished the man, "No laughing during the song, please!" The man yelled something about "Hell!" and Cash answered, "I know, 'hell'!" When he finished the song, Cash made a comment that was largely repeated, somewhat out of context, by Joaquin Phoenix in the 2005 film Walk the Line: "I just wanted to tell you that this show is being recorded for an album released on Columbia Records, so you can't say 'hell' or 'shit' or anything like that."^[1]

Recorded versions

• Merle Travis on Folk Songs of the Hills, 1946
• Maddox Brothers and Rose, 1950
• Cisco Houston, Early 1950s
• Tennessee Ernie Ford, (1955)
• Harry Belafonte on "The Many Moods of Belafonte" (1962)
• Gordon Lightfoot and Terry Whelan on Two Tones at the Village Corner, 1962
• Grandpa Jones, 1963
• The Big 3, 1963
• Johnny Cash, studio version as the b-side of "Understand Your Man" single (1964)
• Wolfe Tones on "Foggy Dew" -as "Down in the Mines" (1965)
• The Twiliters on "In Concert" (1966)
• Johnny Cash, live version on "At Folsom Prison" (1968)
• Merle Travis with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on Will the Circle Be Unbroken (1972)
• Peter Grudzien on The Garden Of Love
• Dolly Parton on 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs (1980)
• The Weavers on Together Again (1980)
• The Spinners on In our Liverpool Home as "Lure of the Mines" (1983)
• Patrick Sky, 1985
• Wall of Voodoo on Seven Days in Sammystown (1985)
• The Seldom Scene with Charlie Waller on 15th Anniversary Celebration (1988)
• Frank Tovey on Tyranny and the Hired Hand (1989)
• Souled American on Sonny (1992)
• Ramblin' Jack Elliott, duet with Guy Clark, on Friends of Mine (1998)
• The Chieftains with Vince Gill on Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions (2002)
• Marley's Ghost on Ghost Country (1996)
• Queens of the Stone Age, 2005 ^[2]
• Mark Linkous (recording as Sparklehorse) MOJO Magazine Tribute CD to Johnny Cash (2006)
• Charlie Louvin on Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs (2008)
• Kathy Mattea on Coal (2008)
• Willie Nelson on Country Music (2010)
• Amy Grant on the Lee C. Camp & Friends specialty album, Tokens 9: "Back to Green" (2010) ^[3]
• Maddox Brothers and Rose 1950
• John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats on The Front Porch Sessions (The Front Porch Festival, 2012)
• Slobberbone recorded a version of Dark as a dungeon in 1998 on the Your excuse EP
• The Journeymen on Coming Attraction - Live (1962)
• Brock Zeman on "songs from the mud" (2004)
• The Rebel on Krot (2014)
• Fret! on the "Killing Nico EP" (2016)
• John Cowan (2000) Self-titled CD for Sugar Hill Records
• John Mellencamp (2017)^[4]
• Heather Pierson Acoustic Trio (2017) on Singin'
• Bob Dylan on the archival release The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings
• Joni Mitchell on the archival release Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967) (2020)
• Being a well-documented song publicised by EFDSS,^[5] and Mainly Norfolk,^[6] the song was recorded by Jon Boden and Oli Steadman for inclusion in their respective projects A Folk Song A Day and 365 Days Of Folk.^[7]

Published versions

• Rise Up Singing page 145

References

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Johnny Cash

• Albums
• Singles
• Sun Records
• Songs
• Awards

Studio albums

1950s	Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! The Fabulous Johnny Cash Hymns by Johnny Cash Songs of Our Soil

1960s	Ride This Train Now, There Was a Song! Hymns from the Heart The Sound of Johnny Cash Blood, Sweat and Tears The Christmas Spirit I Walk the Line Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian Orange Blossom Special Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West Everybody Loves a Nut Happiness Is You Carryin' On with Johnny Cash & June Carter From Sea to Shining Sea The Holy Land

1970s

Hello, I'm Johnny Cash Man in Black A Thing Called Love America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song The Johnny Cash Family Christmas Any Old Wind That Blows Johnny Cash and His Woman Ragged Old Flag The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me The Johnny Cash Children's Album Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories John R. Cash Look at Them Beans One Piece at a Time The Last Gunfighter Ballad The Rambler I Would Like to See You Again Gone Girl Silver A Believer Sings the Truth

1980s	Rockabilly Blues Classic Christmas The Baron The Adventures of Johnny Cash Johnny 99 Highwayman Rainbow Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming Heroes Believe in Him Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town Classic Cash Water from the Wells of Home

1990s	Highwayman 2 Boom Chicka Boom The Mystery of Life Country Christmas American Recordings The Road Goes on Forever American II: Unchained

2000–2020s	American III: Solitary Man American IV: The Man Comes Around American V: A Hundred Highways American VI: Ain't No Grave Out Among the Stars Songwriter

Live albums

• At Folsom Prison
• At San Quentin
• The Johnny Cash Show
• På Österåker
• Strawberry Cake
• Koncert v Praze (In Prague – Live)
• VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson
• At Madison Square Garden
• A Concert Behind Prison Walls

Soundtracks

• I Walk the Line
• Little Fauss and Big Halsy

Compilations

• Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous
• Greatest!
• Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams
• Now Here's Johnny Cash
• All Aboard the Blue Train with Johnny Cash
• Original Sun Sound of Johnny Cash
• Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
• Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
• Heart of Cash
• Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
• Sunday Morning Coming Down
• International Superstar
• Five Feet High and Rising
• Destination Victoria Station
• Greatest Hits, Vol. 3
• The Unissued Johnny Cash
• Johnny & June
• Tall Man
• Encore
• Biggest Hits
• The Man in Black 1954–1958
• The Man in Black 1959–1962
• Come Along and Ride This Train
• The Essential Johnny Cash (1992)
• Wanted Man
• The Man in Black 1963–1969
• The Man in Black – His Greatest Hits
• 16 Biggest Hits
• Love, God, Murder
• The Essential Johnny Cash (2002)
• Unearthed
• The Legend
• The Legend of Johnny Cash
• Patriot
• 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
• The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II
• The Complete Columbia Album Collection
• Johnny Cash and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Songs

• "25 Minutes to Go"
• "Seasons of My Heart"
• "Any Old Wind That Blows"
• "A Wonderful Time Up There"
• "The Ballad of Boot Hill"
• "The Ballad of Ira Hayes"
• "Ballad of a Teenage Queen"
• "Big River"
• "Blistered"
• "A Boy Named Sue"
• "Busted"
• "Cat's in the Cradle"
• "Cocaine Blues"
• "Cry! Cry! Cry!"
• "Daddy Sang Bass"
• "Dark as a Dungeon"
• "Don't Take Your Guns to Town"
• "Engine 143"
• "Flesh and Blood"
• "The Folk Singer"
• "Folsom Prison Blues"
• "Forty Shades of Green"
• "Get Rhythm"
• "Give My Love to Rose"
• "Goodnight, Irene"
• "Green, Green Grass of Home"
• "Greystone Chapel"
• "Guess Things Happen That Way"
• "Hey, Porter"
• "Home of the Blues"
• "Hurt"
• "I Couldn't Keep from Crying"
• "I Love You Because"
• "I Still Miss Someone"
• "I Walk the Line"
• "If I Had a Hammer"
• "If I Were a Carpenter"
• "In My Life"
• "In the Jailhouse Now"
• "It Ain't Me Babe"
• "Jackson"
• "Kate"
• "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream"
• "The Man Comes Around"
• "Man in Black"
• "The Matador"
• "Oh Lonesome Me"
• "One Piece at a Time"
• "Oney"
• "Orange Blossom Special"
• "The One on the Right Is on the Left"
• "Remember the Alamo"
• "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky"
• "Ring of Fire"
• "Rock Island Line"
• "So Doggone Lonesome"
• "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"
• "Tennessee Flat Top Box"
• "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang"
• "A Thing Called Love"
• "Understand Your Man"
• "What Is Truth"
• "What'd I Say"
• "Without Love"
• "You Are My Sunshine"

Television

• The Johnny Cash Show

Biographies

• Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words
• Cash: The Autobiography
• Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music
• My Father and the Man in Black
• Walk the Line
• Ring of Fire (musical)
• Ring of Fire (2013 film)

Tribute albums

• The Sound Behind Johnny Cash
• Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash
• Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
• Johnny's Blues: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
• Walk the Line: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
• Fade to Black: Memories of Johnny
• All Aboard: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
• Johnny Cash Remixed
• We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash
• Forever Words

Associated acts

• The Highwaymen
• The Tennessee Three
• Bob Wootton
• Carl Perkins
• W. S. Holland
• Marshall Grant
• Luther Perkins
• Million Dollar Quartet
• The Great Eighties Eight

Family

• June Carter Cash
• John Carter Cash
• Rosanne Cash
• Cindy Cash
• Carlene Carter
• Tommy Cash
• Carter Family

Historical sites

• Dyess, Arkansas
• Johnny Cash Boyhood Home
• Johnny Cash Museum
• House of Cash
• Carter Family Fold

Category

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