Chris Cornell developed You Never Knew My Mind based on a pair of Johnny Cash poems. The song is Cornell’s contribution to the “Forever Words” project that is based on a collection of Cash’s unrecorded poetry, lyrics and letters. “You Never Knew My Mind,” premiered on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show in time for what would have been Cash’s 86th birthday. The song is also the first posthumous track to feature Cornell’s vocals since the singer’s May 2017 death.
In 1996, Johnny Cash recorded a cover of Soundgarden’s hit “Rusty Cage,” written by frontman Chris Cornell, on his Grammy-winning album ‘Unchained.’ Twenty years later, Cornell wrote the next chapter in their unique musical relationship by setting a newly discovered poem of Cash’s to music by creating the all-new song “You Never Knew My Mind.” It was recorded at the historic Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, TN, and marks one of Cornell’s final solo recordings. The song is featured on ‘Johnny Cash: Forever Words,’ that was released by Legacy Recordings.
The album is comprised of Cash’s unknown poetry, lyrics, and letters, now set to music by an all-star array of contemporary artists. Along with Cornell, the album features new songs by Ruston Kelly & Kacey Musgraves, Rosanne Cash, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Kris Kristofferson & Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, John Mellencamp, Carlene Carter, Elvis Costello, The Jayhawks and more.
For nearly 60 years, the words of Johnny Cash have reached across cultural, spiritual and ideological borders. He was not only a singer of great songs, but a teller of universal truths about justice, faith, love, and independence. It was in this spirit that Johnny Cash: Forever Words, was created. Recorded primarily at The Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee and co-produced by John Carter Cash and Steve Berkowitz, Johnny Cash: Forever Words is also the musical companion to the best-selling “Forever Words: The Unknown Poems,” a volume of Cash’s unpublished writing edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon.
Watch the music video for “You Never Knew My Mind” and check out the lyrics below.
You Never Knew My Mind Music Video
You Never Knew My Mind Lyrics
I know you feel the way I change
But you can’t change the way I feel
Sometimes I’m a stranger to you
One of a kind
And I think some way you’ll make it through
You don’t know how to take it
Sometimes you’re a stranger to me
One of a kind
There were times and lots of laughter
And you felt you understood
We were carefree, open and honest
Loving, easy, kind and true
And I suppose you never doubted
That we were altogether fine
You never really knew my mind
You never really knew my mind
My silence holds
Secrets find
I answer but don’t answer
You did not see me well enough to recognize the signs
You didn’t want to know this
But know that it was over
I did not see you well enough to recognize the signs
And there were times and lots of laughter
And you felt you understood
We were carefree, open and honest
Loving, easy, kind and true
And I suppose you never doubted
That we were altogether fine
Then you saw the changes painfully
And you knew
You never really knew my mind
And I suppose you never doubted
That we were altogether fine
Sometimes I’m a stranger to you
Sometimes you’re a stranger to me
Sometimes, maybe all the time
You never really knew my mind
I never really knew your mind
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