What is the music that Johnny Cash sings in “Swan Song”?
This question is asked quite often, which tends to surprise us since most of the chorus consists of the title, “I Saw the Light”. One reason for the question, perhaps, is that so many “Columbo” fans see the show dubbed into other languages. “I Saw the Light” is the song that Tommy Brown sings repeatedly, and which becomes an important clue because Columbo notices that Tommy changed the musical arrangement, before the plane crash, to better showcase the singer who replaces his wife. Tommy also sings part of “Sunday Morning Coming Down” at the picnic, a Kris Kristofferson song which can be found on numerous Johnny Cash albums. “I Saw the Light” was composed by country music legend Hank Williams, Sr (1923-1953), who wrote many popular songs including “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Jambalaya (Down On the Bayou)”. Hank Williams also wrote “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”, known to “Columbo” fans as one of the songs that Vivian Dimitri listens to while lamenting over her dead husband in “Rest In Pe
