I would take songs that I'd loved as a child and redo them in my mind for the new voice I had, the low voice.

They're powerful, those songs. At times they've been my only way back, the only door out of the dark, bad places the black dog calls home.

When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry.

I'm thankful for the sea breeze that feels so good right now, and the scent of jasmine when the sun starts going down.

Every week, Dennis Day sang an old Irish folk song. And next day in the fields, I'd be singing that song if I was working in the fields.

There's unconditional love there. You hear that phrase a lot but it's real with me and her [June Carter]. She loves me in spite of everything, in spite of myself. She has saved my life more than once. She's always been there with her love, and it has certainly made me forget the pain for a long time, many times. When it gets dark and everybody's gone home and the lights are turned off, it's just me and her.

Convicts are the best audience I ever played for.