Song Analysis Of 'Ring Of Fire' By Johnny Cash

The song I chose is called “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash and the topic of this song is love. The theme of the song argues about love and how it can make our lives for the better or for the worst. The song starts out with “Love is a burnin' thing”, throughout the progression of the song, Johnny Cash talks about how love can burn. The song talks about how the artist, Johnny Cash fell into the “Ring of Fire” which represents love and how it can burn to be in a failing relationship. The song then goes on and says how the “flames got higher” which represents how love can turn for the worst and how it can only get worse. The next line goes on and says “The taste of love is sweet” which tells us that love can be for the good and can bring out the best of us within.

Next the song talks about how it “burns to be in the ring of fire”, which can represent a romantic relationship going downhill and how love can turn into hate. A major symbol that stood throughout the song is fire, fire can represent love and how it can have negative consequences towards anyone. Johnny Cash explains that no one should be in “the ring of fire” because it hurts. Personification is a literary device that has been used throughout the majority of the song which compares love to fire. Another literary device that is used is metaphor, many examples of metaphor can be seen during the song including “love is a burnin’ thing”. Johnny Cash sings this song, because it describes a relationship he had with his ex-wife in which his wife compared their relationship to a “ring of