[4] Most of the song is dedicated to a chorus that extends the metaphor comparing the passions of love with a "ring of fire".

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.

Mercury released Anita's version as a single and it was a featured "pick hit" in Billboard magazine.

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.

[9] When the song failed to become a major hit for Anita, Cash recorded it his own way, adding the mariachi-style horns from his dream.

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.

Vivian also noted: "To this day, it confounds me to hear the elaborate details June told of writing that song for Johnny.

The truth is, Johnny wrote that song, while pilled up and drunk, about a certain private female body part.

[22] In late 1974, the Eric Burdon Band released a hard rock version for their album Sun Secrets.

A cover of the song by Alan Jackson with guest vocals from Lee Ann Womack was released as a single on December 6, 2010.

[25][26] The English power metal band DragonForce recorded a cover as the closing track to the standard edition of their 2014 album, Maximum Overload.