Johnny Cash: Ring of Fire Meaning

Song Released: 1963

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Ring of Fire Lyrics

Love is a burning thing
and it makes a firery ring
bound by wild desire
I fell in to a ring of fire...

I fell in to 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...

1. 1TOP RATED

   anonymous

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   May 2nd 2008, 19:29 report

   
   

   This song is about being in love, meeting your soul mate. The hardest relationship one can ever get into and the most uncontrollable like fire. The ring of fire symbolizes marrying that person. The harder you fall the more passion sparks between you. I went down down down and the flames went higher... The ring of fire.

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   May 18th, 14:03 report

   
   

   Neither June or Johnny wrote this song. The guy that wrote Puff the Magic Dragon wrote Ring of Fire.

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   Feb 24th, 20:35 report

   
   

   It was about diarrhea. The ring refers to his anal cavity and fire to the infernal pain associated with diarrhea.
   
   Went down down down and the flames went higher and it burns burns burns the ring of fire. As he sat on that toilet letting it out down down down into the toilet, the pain ( flames-metaphor here) went higher and it burns burns burns the ring of fire (his you know what burns).

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   Aug 9th 2012, 17:05 report

   
   

   You people are amazingly creative ;)
   I had a laugh!
   
   Possibly he was using a condom and it set on fire...
   Then he left a ring shaped marked down there..
   That's why june said it was the ring of fire...
   He was shouting..." my cock in on fire"...
   While june said son of a bitch, you just left me a eternal ring of fire mark...
   If you look for it you can still see it today...
   
   Madam Tussauds Museum perhaps.. ;)

   
   
   
   

5.  

   anonymous

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   Jul 6th 2012, 22:09 report

   
   

   This song is about him having sexual intercourse with a redheaded woman and how he is falling in love with her and her vast red hair on her head and down "there"... "i went down down down and the flames got higher" definitely talking about her red pubic hair.

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   Jun 16th 2012, 20:28 report

   
   

   Your interpretation is solely based on how you determine the meaning of the song. Think of the song however you want and see how you think of the meaning behind the song. Everyone has an interpretation. What's Yours?

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   Apr 2nd 2012, 21:27 report

   
   

   Really it doesn't matter who wrote it or why they wrote, but what it means to the listener. Sure it had a specific meaning to Cash and Carter, which was important to them, but it strikes a different chord with each and every listener and their interpretation should not be diminished in anyway. That’s the beauty of music. As I said yeah the author/writer of the song may have a message they are trying to communicate, but that shouldn't stop others from relating to the song in their own way with their own meaning.

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   Aug 17th 2011, 21:50 report

   
   

   the awesome thing about music is it can have may meanings depending on how the listener wants to interpret it from the artist. Many people relate music to there oun life experience. So it all depends on the person listining, and there current situatiin in there oun lives .

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   Jul 4th 2011, 12:58 report

   
   

   all your interpretations are sad. Most of you dont realize that june wrote this song not johnny, and she wrote it for him, and her struggle that she went through being in love with him while he was going through his drug addiction

   
   
   
   

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    anonymous

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    Jul 4th 2011, 05:17 report

    
    

    the song is about a bad sexuale experience were john reached for some sex lube and grabbed the "bengay" cream instead. put some on june and as the song goes he fell into the ring of fire. rolling stone has an article about the experience as told by johnny cash him self. it's not about love but how it would feel to put icee hot on your genitals. sorry to ruine every ones magical love storey but this is what really happened.

    
    
    
    

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    Martin Forget

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    Jun 10th 2011, 01:42 report

    
    

    thats way simple in fact... you all just try to see a version with faeries and unicorns!! it's all about rough sex do i have to explain what is the ring of fire at that point!! i went down down down and the flames went higher... down where down what!!

    
    
    
    

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    anonymous

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    May 28th 2011, 06:08 report

    
    

    june actually wrote it for j.r., and it symbolizes the burning ring of her love for johnny while he was married and she was also married

    
    
    
    

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    anonymous

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    May 3rd 2011, 01:17 report

    
    

    It's about her vagina... It's about a STD ... Aka "ring of fire"

    
    
    
    

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    anonymous

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    May 1st 2011, 20:49 report

    
    

    Its about his addiction for drugs! Nothing else. The vicious circle of fire... He went down down down into the drugs so his addiction went higher.

    
    
    
    

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    anonymous

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    Apr 28th 2011, 12:55 report

    
    

    its about how he felt while he was still married
    

    
    
    
    

16.  

    anonymous

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    Mar 23rd 2011, 12:03 report

    
    

    I think when he says he fell into a ring of fire, he's means that he fell madly in love with a burning desire to be with that person and being away from her is torturous for him. The part were he went down, down, down and the flames kept getting higher means that the deeper he falls in love with her, the hotter and hotter his feelings are for her to the point of wanting to marry her and spend the rest of his life with her. The ring of fire in my opinion is talking about a wedding ring with the burning desire to share their lives together.

    
    
    
    

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    har0462

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    Aug 28th 2009, 20:41 report

    
    

    It is actually about both, falling in love despite the other person's addictions. This song was originally recorded by June's sister, Anita Carter (a very interesting version). Johnny Cash waited to see what the song would do, giving her a chance at it. When it failed, Johnny recorded it a few months later.

    
    
    
    

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    anonymous

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    Jun 17th 2009, 15:20 report

    
    

    No. The song is about Johnny Cash's addiction to alchohol, amphetamines, and barbiturates and how it interfered with his love life.

    
    
    
    

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    anonymous

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    Mar 17th 2009, 09:15 report

    
    

    It's about venereal diseases, people!

    
    
    
    

20.  

    anonymous

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    Mar 18th 2008, 20:29 report

    
    

    June Carter wrote this song about how she felt about Johnny while he was still married to his first wife (I heard that on a TV program about him).