The story she speaks of comes from the Hebrew bible, specifically the book of Genesis.

Joseph’s father Jacob favored him and gave Joseph the coat as a gift; as a result, he was envied by his brothers, who saw the special coat as an indication that Joseph would assume family leadership. His brothers' suspicion grew when Joseph told them of his two dreams (Genesis 37:11) in which all the brothers bowed down to him. The narrative tells that his brothers plotted against him when he was 17, and would have killed him had not the eldest brother Reuben interposed. He persuaded them instead to throw Joseph into a pit and secretly planned to rescue him later. However, while Reuben was absent, the others planned to sell him to a company of Ishmaelite merchants. When the passing Midianites arrived, the brothers dragged Joseph up and sold him to the merchants for 20 pieces of silver. The brothers then dipped Joseph’s coat in goat blood and showed it to their father, saying that Joseph had been torn apart by wild beasts.

Folsom prison is the second oldest prison in the state of California, located just 20 miles northeast of Sacramento. We can also notice the alliteration in this line:

Far from Folsom

Cash incorporates elements of the classic folk train song, which commonly describes the conditions of a luxurious dining car. The scene contrasts with the narrator’s daily reality in prison.

Dining cars are railroad passenger cars that serve meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. They rose to popularity during the mid 1880’s.

The protagonist’s sad while he’s in prison, not as a result of shame (in moral terms) but rather because for him it’s grossly unfair that he should be in prison while others roam free. This is evident in his resentment of those who possess material goods that are denied to him.

Additionally, this line is significant in what it reveals about the protagonist’s current mindset, as later noted by author Chuck Klosterman:

“Here is the easiest way to explain the genius of Johnny Cash: Singing from the perspective of a convicted murderer in the song “Folsom Prison Blues,: Cash is struck by pangs of regret when he sits in his cell and hears a distant train whistle. This is because people on that train are "probably drinkin' coffee.” And this is also why Cash seems completely credible as a felon: He doesn’t want freedom or friendship or Jesus or a new lawyer. He wants coffee. Within the mind of a killer, complex feelings are eerily simple. This is why killers can shoot men in Reno just to watch them die, and the rest of us usually can’t.”

Iconic lines like these helped solidify Cash’s outlaw image once his career took off in the late ‘50s. However, let it be known that Cash did not serve a prison sentence in his life, only one-night stays in jail cells for minor infractions.

“I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die” is the most famous line of the song, if not all of Cash’s catalogue. It is strikingly similar to a traditional murder ballad, “Duncan and Brady”, recorded by Leadbelly in 1947:

Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, little star
Up comes Brady in a ‘lectric car
Got a mean look all 'round his eye
Gonna shoot somebody jus’ to see them die

During his VH1 Storytellers performance with Willie Nelson, Cash claimed he came up with this line because, “I tried to write it as if I was a criminal… I figured ‘Just to watch him die’ might a pretty good evil reason [for killing someone].”

This won’t be the last time Johnny’s character shoots down someone.

A different take on the lyrics enables us to interpret the protagonist’s criminal mind:
- he expresses an « adolescent » rebellion against moral order personified by his mother given that she said that he shouldn’t play with guns;
- his act appears to be characterized by a perverse reason since he only wanted to see the man die.