Ring of Fire (1963) – Johnny Cash

Ring of Fire is one of Johnny Cash’s most recognisable songs and is widely regarded as one of the greatest country songs ever recorded. You only need to hear it once to understand the power of his sound and voice, and why it remains so familiar in contemporary Western music. Everything that draws people to Johnny Cash is present here: the rolling, train-like rhythm, the hypnotic repetition of the melody, his deep, raw Southern voice. Although, the unexpected mariachi-style horns that give the song a festive, almost celebratory edge were new to his repertoire.

The Ring of Fire feels vivid and immediate. It leaps from the speakers and burns, burns, burns. The song captures the intensity and frenzy of falling in love – being bound by desire you can’t control. It was written by June Carter, who would soon become Cash’s second wife, along with songwriter Merle Kilgore.

The origen of this song (below) is one of the most fascinating – yet controversial – I can remember reading. A brief warning: it contains sexual innuendo that some readers may find offensive.

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Most of the following was abridged from the Wikipedia article below:

In her 2007 autobiography, Cash’s first wife, Vivian, wrote: “One day in early 1963, while gardening in the yard, Johnny told me about a song he had just written with Merle Kilgore and Curly [Lewis] while out fishing on Lake Casitas. ‘I’m gonna give June half credit on a song I just wrote,’ Johnny said. ‘It’s called “Ring of Fire.“‘ ‘Why?’ I asked, wiping dirt from my hands. The mere mention of her name annoyed me. I was sick of hearing about her. ‘She needs the money,’ he said, avoiding my stare. ‘And I feel sorry for her.'” Vivian also noted: “To this day, it confounds me to hear the elaborate details June told of writing that song for Johnny. 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. All those years of her claiming she wrote it herself, and she probably never knew what the song was really about.”

It was first recorded  as “(Love’s) Ring of Fire” by June’s sister Anita Carter on her 1962 album Folk Songs Old and New. It was popularised by Johnny Cash after it appeared on his 1963 compilation album Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash. Cash’s version became one of his biggest hits, staying at No. 1 on the country chart for seven weeks. It was certified gold by the RIAA on January 21, 2010, and by September of that year had amassed over 1.2 million paid downloads.

It was named the fourth-greatest country song by Country Music Television, while Rolling Stone called it the greatest country song and the 87th-greatest song of all time. In 1999, Cash’s version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Some sources claim that June Carter had seen the words “Love is like a burning ring of fire” underlined in an Elizabethan poetry book owned by her uncle A. P. Carter. She worked with Merle Kilgore on writing a song inspired by this imagery, as she had seen her uncle do in the past. In her words: “There is no way to be in that kind of hell, no way to extinguish a flame that burns, burns, burns“.

After hearing Anita’s version, Johnny Cash claimed he had a dream where he heard the song accompanied by “Mexican horns”. The mariachi horn sound had recently been popularized on American radio with 1962 hit song The Lonely Bull by Herb Alpert. Cash said, “[…] 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.” Cash noted that adding trumpets was a change to his basic sound.

[Verse 1]
Love is a burning thing
And it makes a fiery ring
Bound by wild desire
I fell into a ring of fire

[Chorus]
I fell into a burning 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

[Verse 2]
The taste of love is sweet
When hearts like ours meet
I fell for you like a child
Oh, but the fire went wild

[Chorus]
I fell into a burning 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 burning 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

[Outro]
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire, the ring of fire
The ring of fire, the ring of fire, the ring of fire

References:
1. Ring of Fire (song) – Wikipedia