Ring of Fire
Johnny Cash
Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
Supervision Recommended
Information
Released
1963 (1990)
Genre
Country
Language
English
Source
Rock Band Country Track Pack 2
Available
February 1, 2011 (Pack) (DLC)
Playable in
Rock Band 3 Rock Band Blitz
Difficulty
Band
4
Basic
Pro
Guitar
1
No No Part
Bass
1
No No Part
Drums
4
4
Keys
red
4
Vocals
2
No No Part
Details
Male singer
Guitar Solo
"Ring of Fire " is a song by Johnny Cash which was written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore. Kilgore wrote several other Country hits, acted in a few movies, and became a manager for artists like Hank Williams. Kilgore was best man when Carter married Cash.
June Carter wrote the lyrics about her relationship with Johnny Cash. She felt being around Cash was like being in a "ring of fire." Cash was involved in drugs and had a very volatile lifestyle. When she wrote this, both June and Johnny were married, but they became singing partners and close friends. By 1967, Cash and Carter were single again and they got married in 1968. Johnny claimed that June saved his life by helping him get off drugs. June died in 2003 after 35 years of marriage to Johnny.
According to the Rolling Stone magazine's Top 500 Songs, June Carter wrote this song while driving around aimlessly one night, worried about Cash's wildman ways - and aware that she couldn't resist him. "There is no way to be in that kind of hell, no way to extinguish a flame that burns, burns, burns," she wrote. Not long after hearing June's sister Anita's take on the song, Cash had a dream that he was singing it with Mariachi horns. Cash's version became one of his biggest hits, and his marriage to June 4 years later helped save his life. The song was based on a poem Love's Ring Of Fire, and it was originally recorded in a more folksy manner by June Carter's sister, Anita, as "Love's Fiery Ring." Cash held back on his single to give her version a chance to chart. (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England)
In her autobiography I Walked the Line, Johnny Cash's first wife, Vivian Cash, denies that June Carter had any part in writing "Ring of Fire." In her words: "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." (thanks, Keely - Bronx, NY)
In 2004, a company wanted to use this song to promote hemorrhoid-relief products. Kilgore thought it was funny and liked the idea - he sometimes made hemorrhoid jokes when introducing the song in concert. Cash's daughter, Roseanne, thought it would demean the song and refused to allow its use. She said, "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 ."
Popular cover versions of this song include a 1968 rendition by The Animals, which hit #35 in the UK, and a 1980 recording by Wall of Voodoo on their first album. Stan Ridgway of Wall of Voodoo told us: "I used to play Johnny Cash music as a teenager. I grew up with a lot of it. My dad had a big collection of Johnny Cash and all kinds of country western stuff. And as I got older I got into jazz and all kinds of stuff. There's good music, and there's not-so-good music. So a lot of the labels and things like that are really just that: labels.
The song came about with me f--king around with this Moog synthesizer that we had that was brand new at that point. And out came this crazy kind of throbbing sound. And I knew that we needed to assign some sort of idea to it immediately or we'd lose the whole idea, we wouldn't know what was going on. So I had to think to myself, 'Quick, quick, what's a three-chord song that's a good song?' I thought, 'Ring of Fire.' So I sang it over that and then moved my hand and it kind of worked. We made a quick little demo of it, and from there it grew. I do think 'Ring of Fire' is an excellent cover."
Ring of Fire
Social Distortion
Greatest Hits
Family Friendly
Information
Released
1990 (1963)
Genre
Punk
Language
English
Source
Downloadable song
Playable in
Rock Band Rock Band 2 Rock Band 3 Rock Band Blitz Lego Rock Band
Difficulty
Band
1
Basic
Pro
Guitar
2
2
Bass
0
0
Drums
4
4
Keys
No No Part
No No Part
Vocals
0
No No Part
Details
Male singer
Guitar Solo
Big Rock Ending
Ring of Fire is a song by Social Distortion
Songs available as Downloadable Content
Released on marketplace 2011
"2112 " • "2112: Discovery, Presentation " • "2112: Oracle: The Dream, Soliloquy, Grand Finale " • "2112: Overture, The Temples of Syrinx " • "867-5309/Jenny " • "Adolescents " • "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie " • "Aerials " • "Airplanes " • "All Along the Watchtower " • "All Apologies " • "Alright " (RB3 Version) • "Angel " • "Animal " (Live) • "Animals " • "Audience of One " • "Awful Beautiful Life " (RB3 Version) • "Backwoods " (RB3 Version) • "The Ballad of Ira Hayes " • "Bark at the Moon " • "Barracuda " • "Bend Down Low " • "Bicycle Race " • "Big Bang Baby " • "Billionaire " • "Black Magic Woman " • "Blood and Thunder " • "Blow Up the Outside World " • "Blue Bayou " • "Blue Jean " • "Blurry " • "Boom " • "Born This Way " • "Brand New Cadillac " • "Breaking " • "Breath " • "Bringin' On the Heartbreak " • "Burden in My Hand " • "Burnin' and Lootin' " • "By the Way " • "Californication " • "Caravan " • "The Card Cheat " • "Child in Time " • "Clampdown " • "Clocks " • "Coming in from the Cold " • "Control " • "Conventional Lover " • "Crawling " • "Crazy Town " (RB3 Version) • "Cry, Cry, Cry " • "Dance, Dance " • "The Day I Tried to Live " • "Death or Glory " • "Diary of a Madman " • "Do You Feel Like We Do " (Live) • "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me " • "Dolly Dagger " • "Don't Stop Me Now " • "Don't Take Your Guns to Town " • "Don't You Want Me " • "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream) " • "Dream Police " • "Dreams " • "Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove) " • "Every Breath You Take " • "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall " • "Fame " • "Fell on Black Days " • "Fire " • "Fire and Ice " • "Five Feet High and Rising " • "Five Minutes Alone " • "Fix You " • "Fly By Night " • "Flying High Again " • "Folsom Prison Blues " • "For What It's Worth " • "Forever " • "Four Horsemen " • "Freedom " • "Freeze-Frame " • "From Out of Nowhere " • "Get Clean " • "Ghost of Perdition " • "Giddy On Up " (RB3 Version) • "Gold Cobra " • "Gold Dust Woman " • "Grenade " • "The Guns of Brixton " • "Gypsy Eyes " • "Hard Rock Hallelujah " • "Hash Pipe " • "Hateful " • "Head Like a Hole " • "Heart of the Sunrise " • "Heart-Shaped Box " • "Help Is on the Way " • "Here Without You " • "Higher Ground " • "Hot Blooded " • "How You Remind Me " • "Hypnotize " • "I Alone " • "I Believe in a Thing Called Love " • "I Don't Know " • "I Go to Extremes " • "I Got Stripes " • "I Walk the Line " • "I Want You to Want Me " (Live) • "I Will Possess Your Heart " • "I Wish " • "I Write Sins Not Tragedies " • "If Today Was Your Last Day " • "I'm Broken " • "I'm in Love With My Car " • "I'm Not Down " • "In the End " • "In Waves " • "Intentional Heartache " (RB3 Version) • "Invincible " • "Island in the Sun " • "I've Seen All Good People " • "A Jagged Gorgeous Winter " • "Jimmy Jazz " • "Just the Way You Are " • "Kaya " • "King of Rock " • "Kiss a Girl " (RB3 Version) • "Koka Kola " • "Landslide " • "Left Behind " • "Lightning Crashes " • "A Little Respect " • "Lively Up Yourself " • "Living Dead Girl " • "Living for the City " • "The Loco-Motion " • "London Calling " • "Long Away " • "Long Hot Summer Night " • "Long Road to Ruin " • "Look Around " • "Lost in the Supermarket " • "Love is a Battlefield " • "Love Rollercoaster " • "Love Will Tear Us Apart " • "LoveGame " • "Lover's Rock " • "Made of Scars " • "Make Some Noise " • "Mama Tried " (RB3 Version) • "Mama, I'm Coming Home " • "Man of Me " (RB3 Version) • "Man on the Moon " • "Marry You " • "Me and Bobby McGee " • "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) " • "Misery " • "Modern Love " • "Monarchy of Roses " • "Mouth for War " • "Mr. Crowley " • "Must Have Done Something Right " • "My Life " • "My Way " • "Need You Now " • "Never Let Me Down Again " • "Night Lies " • "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia " (RB3 Version) • "No More Trouble " • "No Sleep till Brooklyn " • "Nookie " • "Nothin' but a Good Time " • "Numb " • "Obsession " • "On the Backs of Angels " • "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel) " • "The Only Time " • "Operation Ground and Pound " • "Otherside " • "Outshined " • "Over the Mountain " • "Owner of a Lonely Heart " • "Panic " • "Paparazzi " • "Paradise by the Dashboard Light " • "Parallel Universe " • "Pardon Me " • "Party for Two " (With Billy Currington) (RB3 Version) • "The Party Song " • "Perfect Day " (RB3 Version) • "Perfect Situation " • "Personal Jesus " • "Photograph " • "Policy of Truth " • "Pour Some Sugar on Me " (Live) • "Prelude/Angry Young Man " • "Pressure " • "Promises in the Dark " • "Pulse of the Maggots " • "Radio Ga Ga " • "Rain is a Good Thing " (RB3 Version) • "Rape Me " • "Re-Arranged " • "Rebel Love Song " • "Relax (Come Fighting) " • "Revolution Rock " • "Rhiannon " • "Ride " (RB3 Version) • "The Right Profile " • "Ring of Fire " (RB3 Version) • "Rob the Prez-O-Dent " • "Rock and Roll All Nite " (Live) • "Rock of Ages " • "Rock the Casbah " • "Rope " • "Rudie Can't Fail " • "Rusty Cage " • "Sanctified " • "Say You'll Haunt Me " • "Scar Tissue " • "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant " • "The Scientist " • "Settlin' " (RB3 Version) • "Seven Seas of Rhye " • "Shadows of the Night " • "She Hates Me " • "She's Always a Woman " • "Shooting the Moon " • "Shoulder to the Plow " • "The Show Must Go On " • "Sideways " (RB3 Version) • "Single White Female " (RB3 Version) • "Sir Duke " • "Small Axe " • "Snuff " • "So Lonely " • "Somebody to Love " • "Someday " • "Somewhere I Belong " • "Sooner or Later " • "South Side of the Sky " • "Spanish Bombs " • "Spill the Wine " • "Spinning Wheel " • "The Spirit of Radio (Live) " • "Stacked Actors " • "Stand Back " • "Starship Trooper " • "Stash " • "Stay Together for the Kids " • "Steal Away (The Night) " • "Stereo Hearts " • "Stone Cold Crazy " • "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around " • "Strutter " (Live) • "Sugar, We're Goin Down " • "Summer Nights " (RB3 Version) • "Super Bad, Pts. 1 & 2 " • "Super-Charger Heaven " • "Superstition " • "Supreme Girl " • "Surrender " (Live) • "Take On Me " • "Talk Dirty to Me " • "Tell Me Something Good " • "Tennessee Flat Top Box " • "Terrible Lie " • "That's How Country Boys Roll " (RB3 Version) • "The Good Left Undone " • "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) " • "This Love " • "This Means War " • "Thnks fr th Mmrs " • "Through Glass " • "Through the Fire and Flames " • "Thunder Kiss '65 " • "Total Eclipse of the Heart " • "Tubthumping " • "Turning Japanese " • "Twang " (RB3 Version) • "Tweezer " • "Unbelievable " • "Undefeated " • "Unholy Confessions " • "Unskinny Bop " • "Until the End " • "Up All Night " • "Urgent " • "Wait and Bleed " • "Waiting for the End " • "Walk " • "Walk " • "A Warrior's Call " • "We Belong " • "We Built This City " • "Welcome to the Family " • "Welcome to the Neighborhood " • "We're an American Band " • "What I've Done " • "When I'm Gone " • "When You're Young " • "Wish You Were Here " • "Visions " • "Viva la Vida " • "Won't Go Home Without You " • "Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (Live) " • "Working for the Weekend " • "Wrong 'Em Boyo " • "Yellow " • "You Know You're Right " • "You Make Me Feel... " • "Young Americans " • "You're My Best Friend " • "Youth of the Nation " • "Ziggy Stardust "
Songs available as Downloadable Content
Released on marketplace 2011
"2112 " • "2112: Discovery, Presentation " • "2112: Oracle: The Dream, Soliloquy, Grand Finale " • "2112: Overture, The Temples of Syrinx " • "867-5309/Jenny " • "Adolescents " • "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie " • "Aerials " • "Airplanes " • "All Along the Watchtower " • "All Apologies " • "Alright " (RB3 Version) • "Angel " • "Animal " (Live) • "Animals " • "Audience of One " • "Awful Beautiful Life " (RB3 Version) • "Backwoods " (RB3 Version) • "The Ballad of Ira Hayes " • "Bark at the Moon " • "Barracuda " • "Bend Down Low " • "Bicycle Race " • "Big Bang Baby " • "Billionaire " • "Black Magic Woman " • "Blood and Thunder " • "Blow Up the Outside World " • "Blue Bayou " • "Blue Jean " • "Blurry " • "Boom " • "Born This Way " • "Brand New Cadillac " • "Breaking " • "Breath " • "Bringin' On the Heartbreak " • "Burden in My Hand " • "Burnin' and Lootin' " • "By the Way " • "Californication " • "Caravan " • "The Card Cheat " • "Child in Time " • "Clampdown " • "Clocks " • "Coming in from the Cold " • "Control " • "Conventional Lover " • "Crawling " • "Crazy Town " (RB3 Version) • "Cry, Cry, Cry " • "Dance, Dance " • "The Day I Tried to Live " • "Death or Glory " • "Diary of a Madman " • "Do You Feel Like We Do " (Live) • "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me " • "Dolly Dagger " • "Don't Stop Me Now " • "Don't Take Your Guns to Town " • "Don't You Want Me " • "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream) " • "Dream Police " • "Dreams " • "Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove) " • "Every Breath You Take " • "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall " • "Fame " • "Fell on Black Days " • "Fire " • "Fire and Ice " • "Five Feet High and Rising " • "Five Minutes Alone " • "Fix You " • "Fly By Night " • "Flying High Again " • "Folsom Prison Blues " • "For What It's Worth " • "Forever " • "Four Horsemen " • "Freedom " • "Freeze-Frame " • "From Out of Nowhere " • "Get Clean " • "Ghost of Perdition " • "Giddy On Up " (RB3 Version) • "Gold Cobra " • "Gold Dust Woman " • "Grenade " • "The Guns of Brixton " • "Gypsy Eyes " • "Hard Rock Hallelujah " • "Hash Pipe " • "Hateful " • "Head Like a Hole " • "Heart of the Sunrise " • "Heart-Shaped Box " • "Help Is on the Way " • "Here Without You " • "Higher Ground " • "Hot Blooded " • "How You Remind Me " • "Hypnotize " • "I Alone " • "I Believe in a Thing Called Love " • "I Don't Know " • "I Go to Extremes " • "I Got Stripes " • "I Walk the Line " • "I Want You to Want Me " (Live) • "I Will Possess Your Heart " • "I Wish " • "I Write Sins Not Tragedies " • "If Today Was Your Last Day " • "I'm Broken " • "I'm in Love With My Car " • "I'm Not Down " • "In the End " • "In Waves " • "Intentional Heartache " (RB3 Version) • "Invincible " • "Island in the Sun " • "I've Seen All Good People " • "A Jagged Gorgeous Winter " • "Jimmy Jazz " • "Just the Way You Are " • "Kaya " • "King of Rock " • "Kiss a Girl " (RB3 Version) • "Koka Kola " • "Landslide " • "Left Behind " • "Lightning Crashes " • "A Little Respect " • "Lively Up Yourself " • "Living Dead Girl " • "Living for the City " • "The Loco-Motion " • "London Calling " • "Long Away " • "Long Hot Summer Night " • "Long Road to Ruin " • "Look Around " • "Lost in the Supermarket " • "Love is a Battlefield " • "Love Rollercoaster " • "Love Will Tear Us Apart " • "LoveGame " • "Lover's Rock " • "Made of Scars " • "Make Some Noise " • "Mama Tried " (RB3 Version) • "Mama, I'm Coming Home " • "Man of Me " (RB3 Version) • "Man on the Moon " • "Marry You " • "Me and Bobby McGee " • "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) " • "Misery " • "Modern Love " • "Monarchy of Roses " • "Mouth for War " • "Mr. Crowley " • "Must Have Done Something Right " • "My Life " • "My Way " • "Need You Now " • "Never Let Me Down Again " • "Night Lies " • "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia " (RB3 Version) • "No More Trouble " • "No Sleep till Brooklyn " • "Nookie " • "Nothin' but a Good Time " • "Numb " • "Obsession " • "On the Backs of Angels " • "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel) " • "The Only Time " • "Operation Ground and Pound " • "Otherside " • "Outshined " • "Over the Mountain " • "Owner of a Lonely Heart " • "Panic " • "Paparazzi " • "Paradise by the Dashboard Light " • "Parallel Universe " • "Pardon Me " • "Party for Two " (With Billy Currington) (RB3 Version) • "The Party Song " • "Perfect Day " (RB3 Version) • "Perfect Situation " • "Personal Jesus " • "Photograph " • "Policy of Truth " • "Pour Some Sugar on Me " (Live) • "Prelude/Angry Young Man " • "Pressure " • "Promises in the Dark " • "Pulse of the Maggots " • "Radio Ga Ga " • "Rain is a Good Thing " (RB3 Version) • "Rape Me " • "Re-Arranged " • "Rebel Love Song " • "Relax (Come Fighting) " • "Revolution Rock " • "Rhiannon " • "Ride " (RB3 Version) • "The Right Profile " • "Ring of Fire " (RB3 Version) • "Rob the Prez-O-Dent " • "Rock and Roll All Nite " (Live) • "Rock of Ages " • "Rock the Casbah " • "Rope " • "Rudie Can't Fail " • "Rusty Cage " • "Sanctified " • "Say You'll Haunt Me " • "Scar Tissue " • "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant " • "The Scientist " • "Settlin' " (RB3 Version) • "Seven Seas of Rhye " • "Shadows of the Night " • "She Hates Me " • "She's Always a Woman " • "Shooting the Moon " • "Shoulder to the Plow " • "The Show Must Go On " • "Sideways " (RB3 Version) • "Single White Female " (RB3 Version) • "Sir Duke " • "Small Axe " • "Snuff " • "So Lonely " • "Somebody to Love " • "Someday " • "Somewhere I Belong " • "Sooner or Later " • "South Side of the Sky " • "Spanish Bombs " • "Spill the Wine " • "Spinning Wheel " • "The Spirit of Radio (Live) " • "Stacked Actors " • "Stand Back " • "Starship Trooper " • "Stash " • "Stay Together for the Kids " • "Steal Away (The Night) " • "Stereo Hearts " • "Stone Cold Crazy " • "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around " • "Strutter " (Live) • "Sugar, We're Goin Down " • "Summer Nights " (RB3 Version) • "Super Bad, Pts. 1 & 2 " • "Super-Charger Heaven " • "Superstition " • "Supreme Girl " • "Surrender " (Live) • "Take On Me " • "Talk Dirty to Me " • "Tell Me Something Good " • "Tennessee Flat Top Box " • "Terrible Lie " • "That's How Country Boys Roll " (RB3 Version) • "The Good Left Undone " • "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) " • "This Love " • "This Means War " • "Thnks fr th Mmrs " • "Through Glass " • "Through the Fire and Flames " • "Thunder Kiss '65 " • "Total Eclipse of the Heart " • "Tubthumping " • "Turning Japanese " • "Twang " (RB3 Version) • "Tweezer " • "Unbelievable " • "Undefeated " • "Unholy Confessions " • "Unskinny Bop " • "Until the End " • "Up All Night " • "Urgent " • "Wait and Bleed " • "Waiting for the End " • "Walk " • "Walk " • "A Warrior's Call " • "We Belong " • "We Built This City " • "Welcome to the Family " • "Welcome to the Neighborhood " • "We're an American Band " • "What I've Done " • "When I'm Gone " • "When You're Young " • "Wish You Were Here " • "Visions " • "Viva la Vida " • "Won't Go Home Without You " • "Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (Live) " • "Working for the Weekend " • "Wrong 'Em Boyo " • "Yellow " • "You Know You're Right " • "You Make Me Feel... " • "Young Americans " • "You're My Best Friend " • "Youth of the Nation " • "Ziggy Stardust "