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RING OF FIRE - JOHNNY CASH #rockversion on #melodica #melodicacover #harmonica #keyboards

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Best heard on headphones - Harmonica is on Left channel, Choir on Right.

This is one of those songs where you remember where you were when you first heard it. I first heard it while drinking overpriced coffee at a sweltering Houston Starbucks one morning many years ago - traveling for a conference that is long forgotten.

I physically felt a ring of fire around me for 2 min 45 sec and couldn't believe what I just heard. Imagined several scenarios where Cash might have written the song, but none seemed right. Are we sure he is talking about a woman? Probably: after all he says, "..the TASTE of love is SWEET". But I still wondered, and the song played in my head the whole day as I was flying back home. And then for many days after.

We have all gone down Rings of Fire, and we knew it was Fire. There was nothing we could do. At that time in our life, we had to be in that Ring. There was no choice. There is no other song like this.

Later I read that at some point in Cash's life, no one was appreciating his music so he basically said "to hell with the band" and decided to record just his voice and the guitar. This was his second coming, when entirely new generations discovered him. Yes Ring of Fire would be fine with only his voice and guitar but sorry, you do need the TRUMPETS. Ah! those Mariachi trumpets that open the song and play a short interlude between stanzas (note the opening and stanza trumpets are slightly different - compare 0:57 to 1:38).

Now I can't play trumpets. I blow and blow but no sounds comes out (trust me I've tried every instrument). But by mistake, I bought a low-C harmonica from Amazon instead of a regular high-C or high-E that I should have gotten. Suddenly, I thought of that muggy day in Houston and the Mariachi trumpets. And the low-C harmonica made sense. It was not easy for me to play this veiled instrument where you cannot see what exact note you are playing (blowing), but the result is this video.

I tried to catch Cash's numerous vocal nuances on the melodica - the bold proclamations that make you sit up - LOVE is a BURNING thing (what?), the soft nothings (when hearts like ours' meet...), the resignation (bound by wild desire...I fell into a ring of fire), the anger (..I went DOWN DOWN DOWN as the FLAMES grew HIGHER...).

I have this absurd notion that if Johnny Cash heard my melodica version of his voice, he would have liked it. We will never know, shall we?
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Johnny Cash
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