'The One on the Right is on the Left' took on politics
This week in 1966: France pulled armed forces out of NATO; a monument to JFK was unveiled in Israel; Soviets boycotted a track meet to protest the U.S. war in Vietnam; and a singer from Kingsland, Arkansas, was between his 54th and 55th hit record.
A lot of songs have been written as satire on people or things, but very few of them have become hit records.
Johnny Cash’s 1966 top five hit, “The One on the Right is on the Left” was one of those songs that did.
According to songwriter and
record producer Jack Clement, “That song is pretty self-explanatory. It’s just a satire on people who got their politics mixed up with their music. The one on the right is on the left and the one in the middle is on the right and the one in the rear is a Methodist. And just silly stuff as that. It’s just a song laughing at folks who try to mix their music and their politics. That’s about it. I was just thinking silly that day and that’s what came out.”
Johnny Cash’s Columbia single “The One on the Right” came on the charts Feb. 12, 1966 and peaked at No. 2. It was his 54th charted song and on the charts for 18 weeks.
Between 1955 and 2003, Johnny Cash placed 135 songs on the country music charts, including 13 No. 1s.
Fifty-two of his 135 country chart songs also placed on the pop charts.
He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1956 and was inducted into The Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
He was named a Grammy Legend in 1991 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. He received Kennedy Center Honors in 1996 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Academy of Country Music in 2015. Cash was named an RIAA American Music Legend in 1970.
Johnny Cash died in 2003.