What does Ring of Fire mean?

Johnny Cash: Ring of Fire Meaning

Album cover for Ring of Fire album cover

Song Released: 1963


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. anonymous
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    Aug 17th 2011 !⃝

    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 .

  2. anonymous
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    Jul 4th 2011 !⃝

    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

  3. anonymous
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    Jul 4th 2011 !⃝

    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.

  4. Martin Forget
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    Jun 10th 2011 !⃝

    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!!

  5. anonymous
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    May 28th 2011 !⃝

    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

  6. anonymous
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    May 3rd 2011 !⃝

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

  7. anonymous
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    May 1st 2011 !⃝

    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.

  8. anonymous
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    Apr 28th 2011 !⃝

    its about how he felt while he was still married

  9. anonymous
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    Mar 23rd 2011 !⃝

    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.

  10. har0462
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    Aug 28th 2009 !⃝

    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.

  11. anonymous
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    Jun 17th 2009 !⃝

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

  12. anonymous
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    Mar 17th 2009 !⃝

    It's about venereal diseases, people!

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