The Cumberland cannot WHAT?!

January 27, 2013 2:02 PM

Does anyone know exactly what Johnny Cash sings about "the Cumberland...." in his song "Southern Comfort"?

In the Johnny Cash song "Southern Comfort" the protagonist settles in Nashville as a tobacco industry worker, and suffers from ill-health and heartbreak. In the second part of the song, according to various lyrics websites, he sings:

"Southern Comfort is killing me, the Cumberland cannot enhermit each bee."

See for example:
http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858914177/

When I listen to the song this doesn't sound quite right to me, and I can't make sense that line anyway. I'm aware that the Cumberland is a river that flows through Kentucky and Tennessee, but "enhermit each bee"?

I would like to know: is this what Johnny Cash is singing here? If it isn't then what is he singing and if it is then what does it mean in the context of the song?

posted by mister_kaupungister to media & arts (21 answers total)

I wonder if it's referring to Hermitage, which is near the Cumberland River and just outside of Nashville to the east. This would make it something like "The Cumberland cannot in Hermitage be", which makes a little more sense than 'enhermit each bee". But not by much, I admit.
posted by jquinby at 2:15 PM on January 27

Cumberland Heights Rehab?
posted by Ideefixe at 2:17 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

...on repeated listenings, it sounds like "The Cumberland cannot, and Hermitage be." Dunno if that helps much at all, though.
posted by jquinby at 2:20 PM on January 27

Possibly "The Cumberland cannot a hermitage be;" i.e., the Cumberland (plateau, river or county) can't be a refuge.
posted by frobozz at 2:24 PM on January 27 [4 favorites]

All the published versions have the same lyric as in the original post, as far as I can find.
posted by Ideefixe at 2:24 PM on January 27

I think frobozz is probably right, but that's not his (J.R.'s) greatest lyrical moment if so.

If I had to guess, though, I would probably say Hermitage as in palace, home of Andrew Jackson, as in, "the Cumberland [whatever] is no kind of fancy establishment; it is, on the contrary, the name of the flophouse where I reside."

I will say, though, about be as in bee..."my hives are gone, I lost my bees" took me years. Bees are not a big thing among my rednecks of origin.
posted by skbw at 3:08 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

Yes... he's totally saying Hermitage. Although instead of referring to The Hermitage specifically, the song may be referring to the area of Nashville known as Hermitage. It's still an odd lyric, but the fact that he's talking about location jives with the next line where he talks about his woman moving to Sumner County.
posted by kimdog at 3:55 PM on January 27

Perhaps "the bad neighborhood next to the river cannot suddenly become a nice suburban neighborhood" is what he means.
posted by skbw at 4:01 PM on January 27

Or maybe he's The Cumberland, and she's Hermitage...a right side/wrong side of the tracks sort of thing.
posted by jquinby at 4:55 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

I hear frobozz's lyrics and as a former resident of the foothills of Cumberland Plateau (also known as the highland rim), I agree with his analysis.

See also dictionary.com: hermitage - Noun - A: A hermit's dwelling. A place where one can live in seclusion; a retreat. B: A monastery or abbey.

So: not a proper place name, but a place to escape to from the outside world.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 5:21 PM on January 27

I am going to suggest a different interpretation: Bees are controlled with smoke. It makes them passive and unable to leave the hive. Cash is saying that he ain't smokin' and he ain't stayin'; it's bad for every one, smoking is. If you live in that part of the country, smoking is considered almost patriotic. I am not your beekeeper.
posted by effluvia at 5:34 PM on January 27

Also, Southern Comfort refers to the politeness code and alcohol.
posted by effluvia at 5:36 PM on January 27

The reason why I do not agree with hermitage as retreat (or even hermit's dwelling) is there's no reason why his narrator would know that word or want to use it. Otherwise it works, but would the guy in the song be using the word?

THAT SAID, I don't know that mine's right, either...this is a weird one.
posted by skbw at 7:11 PM on January 27

Also, some rail lines have "Cumberland" in the name.

According to Wikipedia, Tennesse had several "Cumberland" lines, but they are now defunct. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tennessee_railroads.
posted by maurreen at 9:27 PM on January 27

The lyric is either "Cumberland cannot in hermitage be" or "Cumberland cannot an hermitage be."

The first could refer to Hermitage, TN - but if this guy is pronouncing it correctly, then either Johnny Cash mispronounced it, or that's not the lyric.

I think the second option makes more sense. This use of "an" (rather than "a") is not standard but certainly not unheard of: before a word beginning with an unstressed or dropped h sound. And these are ways to pronounce "hermitage," either the common noun or the proper noun. But regarding the proper noun: is the site usually referred to as The Hermitage, or just Hermitage? If it's The Hermitage, then it would be odd for Johnny Cash to not go with, "Cumberland cannot The Hermitage be..."

I think it's "Cumberland cannot an hermitage be," where hermitage is a refuge he seeks but can't have.
posted by illenion at 2:26 AM on January 28 [1 favorite]

FWIW, The Hermitage is Andrew Jackson's house. Hermitage (without "The") is an area near Nashville (and adjacent to the Jackson place).
posted by jquinby at 6:15 AM on January 28 [1 favorite]

I do think it's "an" and not "a," for sure.
posted by skbw at 6:33 AM on January 28

The reason why I do not agree with hermitage as retreat (or even hermit's dwelling) is there's no reason why his narrator would know that word or want to use it. Otherwise it works, but would the guy in the song be using the word?

Good question, but given the association of the word being a thing and a location in the Music City, I can see it as a kind of inside wink among Nashville songwriters, think of it as an old school neighborhood call-out, or a nod to the locals.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 6:59 AM on January 28 [1 favorite]

The reason why I do not agree with hermitage as retreat (or even hermit's dwelling) is there's no reason why his narrator would know that word or want to use it. Otherwise it works, but would the guy in the song be using the word?

Because the guy is from that particular part of Tennessee, and "The Hermitage" was the name of Andrew Jackson's home. As a he was a Tennessee hero, kids would have been exposed to the word "hermitage" when learning about Jackson, and many would likely have visited The Hermitage. Even if for some reason the idea of an hermitage as a place for solitary reflection wasn't conveyed to people that heard the word, the idea of a retreat or grand place to live would have. I don't buy that a poor southern tobacco worker would necessarily imply illiteracy or lack of education; the implication that someone who works in a snuff factory would be completely unaware of local history is unfounded. Furthermore, Johnny Cash bought land near Andrew Jackson's home, and even styled his plain black (unusual for a country singer at the time) stage clothing after the common man persona of Andrew Jackson. Ultimately, the song reflects Cash's point of view and his homage to that part of the country. "The Cumberland cannot a hermitage be" is what I hear, and it's something that would be understood in some way by people of that region.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:31 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

Of all of your suggestions, "The Cumberland cannot an hermitage be" sounds the closest to me.
I think the "an" suggests the "refuge" meaning primarily, but perhaps there is a local wink in there too. Thanks to each of you!
posted by mister_kaupungister at 2:23 PM on January 28

I don't buy that a poor southern tobacco worker would necessarily imply illiteracy or lack of education; the implication that someone who works in a snuff factory would be completely unaware of local history is unfounded.

I'm not saying he's illiterate, I'm saying that hermitage is way out of the register of people in general, college-educated included. Nor am I saying he's "completely unaware of local history"--that is why I myself suggested Hermitage as in home of Jackson.

I have the question out to a couple of lifelong Nashvillians--maybe there is something more obvious we're missing.
posted by skbw at 2:56 PM on January 28