Ring of Fire (song)
Encyclopedia
"Ring of Fire" or "The Ring of Fire" is a country music
song popularized by Johnny Cash
and co-written by June Carter Cash
(wife of Johnny Cash) and Merle Kilgore
. The single appears on Cash's 1963 compilation album, Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
. The song was originally recorded by June's sister, Anita Carter
, on her Mercury Records album Folk Songs Old and New (1963) as "(Love's) Ring of Fire".
The song was recorded on March 25, 1963, and became the biggest hit of Johnny Cash's career, staying at number one on the charts for seven weeks. It was certified Gold on 1/21/2010 by the R.I.A.A.
was experiencing with Johnny Cash at the time. Some sources claim that June had seen the phrase, "Love is like a burning ring of fire," underlined in one of her uncle A. P. Carter
's Elizabethan books of poetry. She worked with Kilgore on writing a song inspired by this phrase as she had seen her uncle do in the past. In the 2005 film Walk the Line
, June is depicted as writing the song while agonizing over her feelings for Cash despite his drug addiction and alcoholism
as she was driving home one evening. She had written: "There is no way to be in that kind of hell, no way to extinguish a flame that burns, burns, burns".
The song was originally recorded by June's sister, Anita Carter
, on her Mercury Records album Folk Songs Old and New (1963) as "(Love's) Ring of Fire". Mercury released Anita's version as a single and it was a featured "pick hit" in Billboard magazine.
After hearing Anita's version, Cash claimed he had a dream where he heard the song accompanied by "Mexican horns". Cash allowed some time for Anita's song to catch on, stating:
"I'll give you about five or six more months, and if you don't hit with it, I'm gonna record it the way I feel it."
When the song failed to become a major hit for Anita, Cash recorded it his own way, adding the mariachi
-style horns. This sound was later used in the song "It Ain't Me Babe
", which was recorded around the same time. Mother Maybelle and the Carter sisters are prominently featured in the Cash recording singing harmony. Cash tinkered with a few of the original phrases in Anita Carter's version of the song:
Four years after the song was released, Carter and Cash were married, which Cash states helped to stop his alcohol and drug addictions. Cash's daughter Rosanne
has stated, "The song is about the transformative power of love and that's what it has always meant to me and that's what it will always mean to the Cash children."
American punk rock band Social Distortion
covered this song for their self-titled album
in 1990.
, who released their punk rock
version on the album Social Distortion
(1990). The single reached #25 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, 27 years after the song was first recorded by Cash. Pop punk
band Bowling for Soup
would later cover the song on their live album Bowling for Soup: Live and Very Attractive.
The Eric Burdon & the Animals version, recorded at the end of 1968, charted in 1969 in the following countries: UK: #35, GER: #24, AUS: #10, AU: #8, NL: #4; it failed to chart in the US. In late 1974, the Eric Burdon Band released a heavier version. In 2006, Burdon performed the song at some of his concerts.
A cover of the song was released as a single by Alan Jackson
on December 6, 2010. It served as the lead-off single to his 34 Number Ones
compilation album. His rendition features guest vocals from Lee Ann Womack
. It peaked at #45, becoming his first single to miss the Top 40 since "It's Alright to Be a Redneck" peaked at #53 in 2001.
Dwight Yoakam
also recorded a version of the song, which appeared on his debut album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
The song was covered by Frank Zappa
in the late 1980s, and is offered on the 1995 The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life
release showcasing a short-lived band lineup from a late-1988 tour. Zappa introduces the song by saying he'd met Johnny Cash that afternoon, and that Johnny was going to come to the show and play with Zappa and his band, but "his wife got sick." Zappa and the band proceed to play a gonzo reggae version of the song, with a caricature vocal impersonation of Johnny Cash. A euphemistic take on the song's title (meaning anal/rectal discomfort) permeates the song, and a number of other numbers throughout the Best Band release.
In 1980, experimental/new wave band Wall of Voodoo
recorded a distinctly morbid version, ending with an extended guitar solo layered over a theme that borrows heavily from the repeating incidental music in the "Flint" movies ("In Like Flint
", "Our Man Flint
"). It appeared on their debut EP
, and an edited version (with most of the guitar solo cut) was released as a single and became a minor hit. It can also be heard as background music in the adult film "Night Dreams."
It was sung by Adam Lambert
during his American Idol
days and also during his Glam Nation Tour.
's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music in 2003 and #87 on Rolling Stone
s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song has also been featured in some video games: the original 1963 song was featured in Tony Hawk's Underground 2
, while a live version recorded in 1987 appeared in Guitar Hero 5
(which features a virtual avatar of Cash). The Social Distortion
cover is a downloadable track for the Rock Band
series (with the original song also confirmed for download in Rock Band 3
) and is featured in Shaun White Snowboarding
and Scarface: The World is Yours
.
The song was used in the film Stan Helsing
in which the main character Stan sings the song in a Karayoke Bar.
Blondie
performed the song in the film Roadie
(1980). The live recording was featured on the film soundtrack, and on a reissue of the Blondie album Eat to the Beat
.
It is heard briefly during a scene of the 2006
film Silent Hill
.
Played at the end of episode of "Space: Above and Beyond". Episode #5 "Ray Butts" Was the favorite song of the mysterious colonel "Pancakes" who died at end of the episode.
Played at start of NUMB3RS
-episode Nine Wives
.
Played on episode 2 of "The Wire", season 4.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
song popularized by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
and co-written by June Carter Cash
June Carter Cash
Valerie June Carter Cash was an American singer, dancer, songwriter, actress, comedienne and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash...
(wife of Johnny Cash) and Merle Kilgore
Merle Kilgore
Wyatt Merle Kilgore was an American singer, songwriter, and manager.-Early life:Although born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, Merle Kilgore was raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was the son of Wyatt and Gladys B. Kilgore...
. The single appears on Cash's 1963 compilation album, Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash is a compilations album by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1963 . This album collects tracks from singles and an EP released between 1959 and 1963, Cash's first years on the Columbia label. "Ring of Fire", one of Cash's most famous...
. The song was originally recorded by June's sister, Anita Carter
Anita Carter
Ina Anita Carter , the youngest daughter of Ezra and Mother Maybelle Carter, was a versatile American singer who experimented with several different types of music and played stand-up bass with her sisters Helen Carter and June Carter Cash as The Carter Sisters...
, on her Mercury Records album Folk Songs Old and New (1963) as "(Love's) Ring of Fire".
The song was recorded on March 25, 1963, and became the biggest hit of Johnny Cash's career, staying at number one on the charts for seven weeks. It was certified Gold on 1/21/2010 by the R.I.A.A.
Conception
Although "Ring of Fire" sounds somewhat ominous, the term refers to falling in love – which is what June CarterJune Carter Cash
Valerie June Carter Cash was an American singer, dancer, songwriter, actress, comedienne and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash...
was experiencing with Johnny Cash at the time. Some sources claim that June had seen the phrase, "Love is like a burning ring of fire," underlined in one of her uncle A. P. Carter
A. P. Carter
Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter , best known as A.P. Carter, was an American musician and founding member of The Carter Family, one of the most notable acts in the history of country music.-Life:...
's Elizabethan books of poetry. She worked with Kilgore on writing a song inspired by this phrase as she had seen her uncle do in the past. In the 2005 film Walk the Line
Walk the Line
Walk the Line is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold and based on the early life and career of country music artist Johnny Cash...
, June is depicted as writing the song while agonizing over her feelings for Cash despite his drug addiction and alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
as she was driving home one evening. She had written: "There is no way to be in that kind of hell, no way to extinguish a flame that burns, burns, burns".
The song was originally recorded by June's sister, Anita Carter
Anita Carter
Ina Anita Carter , the youngest daughter of Ezra and Mother Maybelle Carter, was a versatile American singer who experimented with several different types of music and played stand-up bass with her sisters Helen Carter and June Carter Cash as The Carter Sisters...
, on her Mercury Records album Folk Songs Old and New (1963) as "(Love's) Ring of Fire". Mercury released Anita's version as a single and it was a featured "pick hit" in Billboard magazine.
After hearing Anita's version, Cash claimed he had a dream where he heard the song accompanied by "Mexican horns". Cash allowed some time for Anita's song to catch on, stating:
"I'll give you about five or six more months, and if you don't hit with it, I'm gonna record it the way I feel it."
When the song failed to become a major hit for Anita, Cash recorded it his own way, adding the mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
-style horns. This sound was later used in the song "It Ain't Me Babe
It Ain't Me Babe
"It Ain't Me Babe" is the title of a 1964 song by Bob Dylan, first included on his album Another Side of Bob Dylan. The song's opening line is allegedly influenced by musicologist/folk-singer John Jacob Niles' composition "Go 'Way From My Window." Niles is referred to by Dylan as an early...
", which was recorded around the same time. Mother Maybelle and the Carter sisters are prominently featured in the Cash recording singing harmony. Cash tinkered with a few of the original phrases in Anita Carter's version of the song:
Four years after the song was released, Carter and Cash were married, which Cash states helped to stop his alcohol and drug addictions. Cash's daughter Rosanne
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....
has stated, "The song is about the transformative power of love and that's what it has always meant to me and that's what it will always mean to the Cash children."
Johnny Cash version
| Chart (1963) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 17 |
| German Singles Chart | 27 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 77 |
Alan Jackson version
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs | 45 |
Social Distortion version
|American punk rock band Social Distortion
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness , Jonny Wickersham , Brent Harding and David Hidalgo, Jr...
covered this song for their self-titled album
Social Distortion (album)
Social Distortion is the eponymous third studio album by the American punk rock band Social Distortion, released on March 27, 1990, through Epic Records. After touring in support of its previous full-length studio album, Prison Bound , Social Distortion signed with Epic in 1989 and began work on...
in 1990.
Legacy
Numerous cover versions of "Ring of Fire" have been produced, the most commercially successful version being by Social DistortionSocial Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness , Jonny Wickersham , Brent Harding and David Hidalgo, Jr...
, who released their punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
version on the album Social Distortion
Social Distortion (album)
Social Distortion is the eponymous third studio album by the American punk rock band Social Distortion, released on March 27, 1990, through Epic Records. After touring in support of its previous full-length studio album, Prison Bound , Social Distortion signed with Epic in 1989 and began work on...
(1990). The single reached #25 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, 27 years after the song was first recorded by Cash. Pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
band Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup is an American pop-punk band which originally formed in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1994...
would later cover the song on their live album Bowling for Soup: Live and Very Attractive.
The Eric Burdon & the Animals version, recorded at the end of 1968, charted in 1969 in the following countries: UK: #35, GER: #24, AUS: #10, AU: #8, NL: #4; it failed to chart in the US. In late 1974, the Eric Burdon Band released a heavier version. In 2006, Burdon performed the song at some of his concerts.
A cover of the song was released as a single by Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
on December 6, 2010. It served as the lead-off single to his 34 Number Ones
34 Number Ones
-Album:-Certifications:...
compilation album. His rendition features guest vocals from Lee Ann Womack
Lee Ann Womack
Lee Ann Womack is an American country music singer and songwriter, who is best known for her old fashioned-styled country music songs that often discuss subjects such as cheating and lost love....
. It peaked at #45, becoming his first single to miss the Top 40 since "It's Alright to Be a Redneck" peaked at #53 in 2001.
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
also recorded a version of the song, which appeared on his debut album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. is country music artist Dwight Yoakam's début album. It was also the first of three consecutive No. 1 Billboard Country Albums for him. Three of its tracks rose into the Top 40 of the Hot Country Singles chart in 1986. Yoakam's first single was "Honky Tonk Man"...
The song was covered by Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
in the late 1980s, and is offered on the 1995 The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life
The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life
The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life is a double disc live album by Frank Zappa, released in 1991 . The album was one of three to be recorded during the 1988 world tour, along with Broadway the Hard Way and Make a Jazz Noise Here...
release showcasing a short-lived band lineup from a late-1988 tour. Zappa introduces the song by saying he'd met Johnny Cash that afternoon, and that Johnny was going to come to the show and play with Zappa and his band, but "his wife got sick." Zappa and the band proceed to play a gonzo reggae version of the song, with a caricature vocal impersonation of Johnny Cash. A euphemistic take on the song's title (meaning anal/rectal discomfort) permeates the song, and a number of other numbers throughout the Best Band release.
In 1980, experimental/new wave band Wall of Voodoo
Wall of Voodoo
Wall of Voodoo was an American New Wave group from Los Angeles best known for the 1983 hit "Mexican Radio". The band had a sound that was a fusion of synthesizer-based New Wave music with the spaghetti western soundtrack style of Ennio Morricone.-Formation:...
recorded a distinctly morbid version, ending with an extended guitar solo layered over a theme that borrows heavily from the repeating incidental music in the "Flint" movies ("In Like Flint
In Like Flint
In Like Flint is a 1967 film directed by Gordon Douglas, the sequel to the parody spy film Our Man Flint . It posits an international feminist conspiracy to depose the ruling American patriarchy with a feminist matriarchy. To achieve and establish it, they kidnap and replace the U.S. President,...
", "Our Man Flint
Our Man Flint
Our Man Flint is a 1966 action film that parodies of James Bond genre. The film was directed by Daniel Mann, written by Hal Fimberg and Ben Starr, and starring James Coburn as master spy Derek Flint...
"). It appeared on their debut EP
Wall of Voodoo (EP)
Wall of Voodoo is an EP released by Wall of Voodoo in 1980. In 1991, it was re-released on CD under the title, The Index Masters, with live bonus tracks. It contains one of Wall of Voodoo's more well-known songs, "Ring of Fire", which is a cover of the Johnny Cash song featuring moody guitars and...
, and an edited version (with most of the guitar solo cut) was released as a single and became a minor hit. It can also be heard as background music in the adult film "Night Dreams."
It was sung by Adam Lambert
Adam Lambert
Adam Mitchel Lambert is an American singer, songwriter, and actor from San Diego, California. In May 2009, he finished as the runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol...
during his American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
days and also during his Glam Nation Tour.
Use in media
"Ring of Fire" ranked #4 on CMTCMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music in 2003 and #87 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song has also been featured in some video games: the original 1963 song was featured in Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Tony Hawk's Underground 2, also known as THUG 2, is the sixth installment in Neversoft's Tony Hawk's Series and sequel to Tony Hawk's Underground. Tony Hawk's Underground 2 was released on October 4, 2004 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PC, and Game Boy Advance platforms...
, while a live version recorded in 1987 appeared in Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5 is a music video game and the fifth main entry in the Guitar Hero series. The game was developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision, and released internationally in September 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, 3 and Wii consoles...
(which features a virtual avatar of Cash). The Social Distortion
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness , Jonny Wickersham , Brent Harding and David Hidalgo, Jr...
cover is a downloadable track for the Rock Band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
series (with the original song also confirmed for download in Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3 is a music video game, developed by Harmonix Music Systems. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, with Mad Catz taking over both roles a year later. It is the third main game in the Rock Band series...
) and is featured in Shaun White Snowboarding
Shaun White Snowboarding
Shaun White Snowboarding is a sports video game for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Nintendo DS, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Xbox 360 systems. It was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released on November 14, 2008...
and Scarface: The World is Yours
Scarface: The World is Yours
Scarface: The World Is Yours is a video game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Vivendi Universal Games. The game is based on and is a quasi-sequel to the 1983 motion picture Scarface starring Al Pacino reprising his role as Tony Montana, with André Sogliuzzo providing Montana's...
.
The song was used in the film Stan Helsing
Stan Helsing
Stan Helsing is a 2009 parody film, known in some parts of Asia as Scary Movie 5. Not unlike past movies, such as Scary Movie, it directs parodies at horror films...
in which the main character Stan sings the song in a Karayoke Bar.
Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
performed the song in the film Roadie
Roadie (film)
Roadie is a 1980 film directed by Alan Rudolph about a truck driver who becomes a roadie for a traveling rock and roll show. The film stars Meat Loaf and marks his first starring role in a film. There are also cameo appearances by musicians such as Roy Orbison, Hank Williams Jr., Blondie and Alice...
(1980). The live recording was featured on the film soundtrack, and on a reissue of the Blondie album Eat to the Beat
Eat to the Beat
Eat to the Beat is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Blondie. It reached no.1 on the UK album charts in October 1979, no.9 in Australia and no.17 in the US.-History:...
.
It is heard briefly during a scene of the 2006
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
film Silent Hill
Silent Hill (film)
Silent Hill is a 2006 horror film directed by Christophe Gans and written by Roger Avary. The story is an adaptation of the Silent Hill series of survival horror video games created by Konami. The film, particularly its emotional, religious and aesthetic content as well as its creature design,...
.
Played at the end of episode of "Space: Above and Beyond". Episode #5 "Ray Butts" Was the favorite song of the mysterious colonel "Pancakes" who died at end of the episode.
Played at start of NUMB3RS
NUMB3RS
Numb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...
-episode Nine Wives
Nine Wives
"Nine Wives" is the 12th episode of the third season of the American television show Numb3rs. Paralleling the Warren Jeffs and David Koresh cases, the episode features Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and mathematicians attempting to locate and arrest the leader of a polygamist cult in...
.
Played on episode 2 of "The Wire", season 4.