Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire

Johnny Cash crossed genre’s probably better than anyone. I’ve met metal, punk, and rock fans who love this man. It’s probably a combination of personality and music that draws people into his orbit. He is still crossing genres even after being gone for years. 

This song was written by his best friend June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore in 1962. The inspiration came from June’s feelings about her relationship with Johnny Cash. At the time, their relationship was intense as Johnny was struggling with addiction and the complications of his personal life. When she wrote the song, they were just close friends at the time and not married yet. They would not get married until March 1, 1968. 

Johnny wasn’t the first to record this song though. That would be Anita Carter who was June’s sister. She did a really good version of it but without those horns…it just doesn’t click like Johnny’s version does. Cash claimed that he dreamed of the song’s eventual arrangement, including the Mexican-style trumpets. He wanted the song to have a mix of country, rock, and mariachi sounds.

The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts and #17 on the Billboard 100 in 1963. It appeared on the compilation album Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash in 1963.

Vivian Cash (Johnny’s Ex-Wife):  “She didn’t write that song any more than I did. The truth is, Johnny wrote that song, while pilled up and drunk, about a certain private female body part.”

Ring of Fire

Love is a burnin’ thing
And it makes a fiery ring
Bound by wild desire
I fell into a ring of fire

I fell into a burnin’ ring of fire
I went down, down, down
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The ring of fire, the ring of fire

I fell into a burnin’ ring of fire
I went down, down, down
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The ring of fire, the ring of fire

The taste of love is sweet
When hearts like ours meet
I fell for you like a child
Oh, but the fire went wild

I fell into a burnin’ ring of fire
I went down, down, down
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The ring of fire, the ring of fire

I fell into a burnin’ ring of fire
I went down, down, down
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The ring of fire, the ring of fire
And it burns, burns, burns
The ring of fire, the ring of fire
The ring of fire, the ring of fire

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

57 thoughts on “Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire”

  3. Cash writing about a certain female body part! Dude should have re-released this song when Hair Metal was the rage in the 80s with those lyrics haha

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      1. Written by Cash’s eventual second wife, June Carter, and songwriter Merle Kilgore, “(Love’s) Ring of Fire” was originally recorded by June’s sister, Anita Carter, on her 1962 album, Folk Songs Old and New. Cash’s version became one of the biggest hits of his career, staying at No.

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      2. Yea I never bought his ex-wife’s story of it…Vivian’s…she was bitter. June wrote it because her sister did it before Johnny.

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  5. Max, I have a healthy respect for those of you folks in Nashville & the great sounds & groups & writers who’ve spent a part or a lot their illustrious careers there & Johnny Cash was always one of my favorites when we were growing up in our childhood. He was an eclectic performer until the very end. I remember his television show when I was in 1st grade & how my Dad explained to me that he was cool because he tried to have & did put more than the usual number of black acts on that show which was not done by many national hosts in the very late 60’s & early 70’s. I always respected he & his family. That family is the classic story of country/western & gospel music.

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    1. He was a completely different animal than the usual Nashville crowd… he was a rebel who made it…Yea goes across all genres…he didn’t care if you were country, rock, black, or white…

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  9. lol….I was realy young, but I had an occasional babysitter whenever my parents went out and she would let me stay up late to watch the Johnny Cash show, he always had and played with such a variety of people, including the good old Monkees….and I liked that in his later years he would use that voice on such a variety of songs, like Neil Young’s Pocahontas….he was pretty much a monotone, but used that voice, his personal history, his dedication to those incarcerated, his Folsom Prison live album is a classic….and as for ring of fire, Debbie Harry’s version in the movie Roadie is a classic as well..

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    1. Thats the thing about Cash…he didn’t draw lines in the sand about who you were or what kind of music you played…he just liked music period. I never knew how close him and Dylan were…and Dylan was on that show as well. He once brought Derek and the Dominos on the show with Eric…which was really cool.

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  11. Led Zep had their ‘Stairway to Heaven’, Deep Purple had ‘Smoke on the Water’ and Cash, a ‘Ring of Fire’. Iconic song and though done well by others (eg, Wall of Voodoo and Social Distortion in the ’80s) no one quite touches Johnny’s take on it. And kudos to his family for never licensing it out to Preparation H for ads!

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  21. Pingback: Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire – MobsterTiger

    1. The next one will be Bruce…but yea…Bob is coming.
      Yes the movie is awesome to me…they actually got most of it right.

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  26. Pingback: Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire – BEST ADVICES READ THIS BLOG

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